Heidi Ritt, in The Times Delphic:
“A rare sight occurred [at Drake University] around 4 p.m. on Monday afternoon: a herd of 11 deer used the Drake campus as their playground. Apparently, they came from behind Olmsted, through Helmick Commons and across Forest Avenue.
Ed Stang (P2), a resident assistant in Goodwin-Kirk, said he was in the lobby when he saw eight of them running up and hitting the glass windows.
“One little doe hit the plexi-glass window and popped it out enough to squeeze in,” Stang said. “It went sprinting across the lobby and through the first set of doors, which was propped open, and then hit the second set hard enough to get through. She must have nicked herself because you can still see the blood spots where she hit the doors.”
Goodwin-Kirk resident Allison George (AS2) watched the event from her bedroom window on the third floor. “I thought I was hallucinating,” George said. “I screamed for my roommate to come see what was happening.”
The remaining deer that were outside the building ran around in circles in the Goodwin-Kirk courtyard area. A few deer ran up onto the sidewalk that runs the length of the long hall connecting the two sides of the building. Confused by the reflections in the clear plexi-glass windows, eight deer rammed their heads into the second window on the Kirk side, popping it out. Drake Security responded within minutes and called maintenance to begin repair on the window.
Des Moines Animal Control did not respond to the incident because none of the deer were injured. However, a representative did say that, with the recent flooding, a lot of deer have migrated into cities because of depletion of their food sources caused by floods. Additionally, animal control sees deer get into buildings at least once a year.
No students or staff were injured during the incident. The window that was popped out is the only known damage that resulted. The herd traipsed back across campus safely, leaving behind hundreds of footprints, many bewildered students and a buzz of excitement.”
February 19th, 2009 at 4:02PM
"The present life of man, O king, seems to me, in comparison of that time which is unknown to us, like to the swift flight of a deer through the room wherein you sit at supper in winter, with your commanders and ministers, and a good fire in the midst, whilst the storms of rain and snow prevail abroad; the deer, I say, flying in at one door, and immediately out at another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry storm; but after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight, into the dark winter from which he had emerged. So this life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before, or what is to follow, we are utterly ignorant."
February 19th, 2009 at 4:07PM
Ugh, I tried to < s t r i k e > the word "sparrow" but it didn’t let me.
Would UD consider asking her webmistress to assist her readers by adding a preview button to the comments form, and/or a list of acceptable HTML?
February 19th, 2009 at 5:11PM
I’ve edited your wonderful comment, RJO, and will email my webmistress with your idea about the preview button.