Move over, Bambi, there’s a new deer celebrity in town — and it’s been stealing hearts around New Westminster.
New Westminster Animal Services issued an alert on Facebook yesterday that a deer had been sighted in the Queen’s Park neighbourhood.
“Please do not approach or go near the deer, as that will cause him/her to panic, which is dangerous for their safety,” the post read. “Give the deer a wide berth. Let them rest. They will likely move along when it is dark and quiet.”
Though deer sightings are commonplace in many areas of B.C., they’re not often spotted in New West.
Animal Services noted there’s a deer sighting every year or so in the city, when a deer is “on a trek” and has gotten a bit waylaid.
In the meantime, the deer gave rise to an enthusiastic stream of posts in the New Westminster Community Group on Facebook.
Jason Burrows, who lives in the Queen’s Park neighbourhood, shared photos of the deer in his yard — including a close encounter with Burrows’ cat, who wasn’t entirely happy with the encounter (though Burrows reported the deer was unperturbed).
“The deer actually came to us,” Burrows wrote in a message to the Record. “We were in the backyard already. It had no concerns about people.”
Burrows said they gave the deer some water and it drank, and it stood eating just a few feet away from the humans.
“Eventually it wandered off, but it wasn’t frightened,” Burrows reported.
Other residents in the New Westminster Community Group reported seeing the deer near Moody Park later in the afternoon, while other sightings were reported near 12th and Nanaimo, and in Connaught Heights.
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