(Photo tweeted by @Dja_Gomez)
Today’s development in the saga of the deer that appeared on Pigeon Point two nights ago and made its way west to North Delridge yesterday: Despite one commenter’s report that it had been picked up “by animal control,” it’s apparently still out there somewhere.
We published an update after M told us about a sighting outside the West Seattle Health Club yesterday afternoon, and that it seemed to be limping. By the time we got there to look, it was nowhere in sight.
Then commenter Mark47n said it had wandered onto the Nucor property – immediately north of the gym – and “through our scrap yard before being corralled and collected by animal control.” The comment came in too late for us to call the Seattle Animal Shelter last night, but we talked with acting SAS director Ann Graves this morning. She said it wasn’t her agency – our call was the first they had heard about a deer in West Seattle. She confirmed that if it was injured (or worse), SAS could be called for pickup. But if not, she warned, “putting it through the stress of a capture” could be worse than letting it be.
Our next call was to Nucor, to try to verify that they had seen the deer and find out what happened. We were pointed to safety director Oliver Lyles, who confirmed that the deer had turned up on their 50-acre site yesterday. He said they called the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, and though he spent 20 minutes on the phone trying to convince them to come get it, they told him that it should be left alone. So that’s what happened, and it eventually left the property. He thinks that was probably before the mid-afternoon sighting by the gym. It did indeed have a limp, he said, but it also seemed to be moving quite adeptly and quickly.
The photo above, tweeted at us overnight, was taken by the Dragonfly Pavilion along Longfellow Creek, south of the gym. We’re still waiting to hear back from tweeter Dja regarding what time it was taken.
Have you seen it? Let us know. And do please call Seattle Animal Shelter IF it seems to be injured or in distress – 206-386-7387.
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