Habituated deer

a friend lives in a rural subdivision and said that someone had made a pet out of a small buck this summer.
not sure how old the deer is, but he is big enough to hurt someone.

He said these people have put a bandanna around its neck and all of the neighborhood kids are playing with it and feeding it. He follows the kids to the school bus stop and he often sees kids hanging on its neck and hugging it like its a teddy bear. Within the past week, the buck, has been acting strange (wonder why)

it stood in front of his door and just looked in the side window of his living room for an hour. He went outside and had to push him back off of the porch and he came right back up. The animal is not afraid of aggressive human behavior like yelling and waving hands

He called the GW and said he was afraid the deer could hurt one of his younger kids.
GW said that it is always a bad idea to have habituated deer around like this, especially bucks during rut.
Sad thing is that he said they will probly have to put the animal down.

Just well meaning ignorant folks. I hope he can be safely relocated but that's really no good either as he has no fear of humans.

Yes sir, a pet buck is not much different than a loaded gun IMO. I have had "pet" deer and even a doe can be dangerous from just her feet/hooves.

Sad that some think just because they were cute and cuddly once they will always stay that way. "Bambi" will hurt you if you get in his way.

I'd wager you have seen a few "injuries" in and around HF/raising pens? They are so agile and strong, they are just as dangerous a a 2k bull to a point.

Never seen one in a HF, but have heard of several people almost killed and badly injured by bottle raised deer in breeding pens. I have heard of just as many getting hurt by them on LF areas where someone raised a fawn as a pet and left it to free range. Most people that are still in good health can handle a yearling buck. Once they get to be 2 yrs old they are just to powerful. Throw in a rut crazed buck and you have the mix for disaster. The 2 worse things you can do around a gentle buck is to grab a club to swing at him and bend/stoop over, both are posturing signs of aggression. Tame deer loose their fear of humans and those become dangerous.

I wasn't saying whether HF/LF was an issue, more that for breeders/stockers, they have to handle them more times than others. I think there are fewer LO that hand raise them now, with the increasing red tape that goes with it. I can see where as in the OP, could be common as developments infringe more into deer country.

When we where into the Ostrich gig, it was common to hear of other people in the biz to get hurt by domesticated wild animals of every type. Usually when having to handle them.

Kinda like a pet bull, never a good or safe idea