Adam Walker grabbed life by the horns last week 乌鸦传媒� or rather by the antlers 乌鸦传媒� when he arrived home to find his dog locked in a struggle with a large deer.

The MLA for Parksville Qualicum pulled into his driveway to see the strange and distressing sight on Sept. 7.

乌鸦传媒淚t was like a mass of an animal 乌鸦传媒� it was my golden lab and a big buck. The buck had pinned the lab down with his antlers and they were just going at each other,乌鸦传媒� Walker said.

Adrenaline kicked in and Walker grabbed the deer乌鸦传媒檚 antlers and lifted them up so his dog, Pluto, could scurry to safety. But now he was holding onto the 200-pound animal乌鸦传媒檚 antlers and could not break away.

乌鸦传媒淚t was about 20 minutes of back and forth with this deer and it was probably the scariest moment of my life,乌鸦传媒� Walker said. 乌鸦传媒淚t got me in the leg once with its antler and then when I realized I couldn乌鸦传媒檛 get away, I was holding on to him and I just started yelling for help.乌鸦传媒�

Fortunately his neighbour arrived and she got in Walker乌鸦传媒檚 car and nudged the buck with the vehicle until it eventually backed into a ditch, lost its footing and ran off.

Walker suffered a puncture wound in his leg, as well as some scrapes on his knees and shins. He said he is healing nicely after Oceanside Health Centre medical staff sutured up his puncture wound.

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It乌鸦传媒檚 hard to say what brought on the deer乌鸦传媒檚 aggressive behaviour, according to Lisa Lopez, WildSafeBC program manager, and any time a pet encounters a wild animal, that wild animal can behave in a way that is protective of space or a reaction to a perceived threat.

乌鸦传媒淭hese are wild animals and in that sense they乌鸦传媒檙e constantly on alert for situations that may be averse to their survival,乌鸦传媒� she said.

Fall is mating season, so males are in competition and may exhibit more aggressive behaviour than other times of the year, Lopez said.

This is also the time of year when animals are out looking for food sources to prepare for winter, and the drought conditions have made that work extra hard.

乌鸦传媒淭his is an opportunity for people to kind of take notice of it being the fall season and not just deer, but other wildlife are really ramping up to make sure that they乌鸦传媒檙e well-fed, well-established for winter season,乌鸦传媒� Lopez said. 乌鸦传媒淎nd with our drought conditions in B.C. there乌鸦传媒檚 potential that there might be less natural food options out there for them.乌鸦传媒�

The deer could have been interested in a nearby source of water, or simply been passing through Walker乌鸦传媒檚 yard, she added.

Quite a few people have reached out to Walker to see how he is doing after the incident and unsurprisingly there have been a few jokes made around the B.C. Legislature.

乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檝e heard no end of puns,乌鸦传媒� Walker said. 乌鸦传媒淚 quite like the one, 乌鸦传媒榯he buck stops here乌鸦传媒�, that ones pretty good.乌鸦传媒�

He extended his gratitude to the staff at Oceanside Health Centre.

乌鸦传媒淒r. Cooper, the nurses and all the support staff there did a great job fixing me up and we乌鸦传媒檙e lucky to have them in the community.乌鸦传媒�

Sadly, although Walker乌鸦传媒檚 dog Pluto escaped the deer encounter, he had cancer and was already scheduled for an appointment with the vet to be euthanized.