The first installment of this series heavily focused on bears because my family almost got between a mama bear and her cubs on a hike in California several years ago. I asked readers to share their own surprising and scary encounters with wildlife, and the responses were varied and interesting.
More: Predator Watch: A Roundup of Dangerous and Deadly Animal Encounters
One comment particularly caught my attention: "Wild pigs are all over Texas, and you'd better keep in mind that Bambi can kick your a**, too."
Another reader agreed: "Bambi will mess you up."
It's true that deer are responsible for a lot of human deaths. The National Deer Association explains:
Believe it or not, deer are consistently ranked as one of the deadliest animals in the United States – but not in the way you may think! It’s their run-ins on the roads that make Bambi responsible for 96% of Americans killed in physical confrontations with wildlife annually.
So, the majority of deaths are due to vehicle-deer collisions — not the result of a mutated deer on a rampage, like the protagonist in 2025's Bambi: The Reckoning.
Still, when they do attack, even real, not-mutant deer can look pretty creepy:
The victim's friend in that video is cracking up, but a deer attack is not always a laughing matter.
Consider this case of a white-tailed buck in rut that nearly killed a man and his nephew while they were on a hunting trip in Texas. A brutal struggle on land carried the uncle and the buck into the river, which they thought would bring safety. The uncle continues the story:
When you get a wild animal, or any animal — your tame dog — if he's in a fight, you get him wet. Most animals quit once they get wet. So I'm climbing up on the bank. The next thing I feel is antlers hitting me in the butt side, knocking me up on the ground. I'm laying on my belly, and I rolled over, and he's still charging me. And he got me good that time with his antlers in my chest and stomach.
And we just held on and you know it bled out. Even after all that, after it was done bleeding, it was still standing there and it was breathing and you could hear all the noises and the heat from it. Everything. And then it stood back up again and then it feel down and was dead.
Picture this: You’re out for a walk with your dogs and see a deer. You don’t think much of it until you turn your back and the doe attacks.
That is exactly what happened to one Gardiner woman named Jackie. In a video sent to us by another local, Brandi Nichols, you can see Jackie walking her two dogs around the block when she passes a deer. Not giving the doe much thought, she keeps walking until the sound of hooves rushes up behind her, trampling her dog, Gabe.
There's video at the link. It turns out this was a defensive attack: the doe was protecting her newborn fawn.
Earlier this year, officials warned visitors to Yosemite, which is home to black bears and mountain lions, about "one of the most dangerous animals in the park":
Mule deer cause more injuries in Yosemite National Park than any other animal, the National Park Service wrote in an Instagram post. Though the deer may look harmless, the animals are skittish and can use their hooves and antlers to defend themselves when startled, the park service said. In November 2021, a young girl was attacked by a mule deer in Yosemite after she approached it while it was being fed by other visitors. The deer became spooked and charged her with its antlers, causing deep wounds on her arm and chest lacerations.
I'll leave you with a video of these majestic creatures sparring — a reminder not to mistake grace for gentleness.
Have you had a close encounter with a deer? Share it in the comments.
