Deer jumps into Gettysburg bar, but it’s probably a one-time thing

In a surprise move, a deer jumped through a window at the Blue and Gray Bar and Grill on Gettysburg’s Lincoln Square yesterday morning.

“It happened about 8:45 as we were getting ready to open,” said manager Jack Rumsey.  “It was pretty big. It jumped right through the window. It was stunned but acted pretty tame.”

deer.jpg

“It couldn’t get it’s traction on the floor,” said Rumsey. “It had a few cuts but otherwise seemed OK. We don’t see deer here on the square too often.”

Gettysburg Police Chief Robert Glenny said officer Bryant Holden from his department helped remove the deer from the restaurant and released it on a farm.  “Officer Holden wrestled the deer to the ground,” said Glenny.  “The deer was not put down but released to mother nature,”

Witnesses said the deer had first investigated the Gettysburg Chocolate Market across Baltimore St. before suddenly bounding directly into the bar.

Gettysburg National Military Park biologist Dafna Reiner said strange things sometimes happen with deer, but it was unlikely the animal was diseased. “Deer aren’t rabies vectors. And there has only been one case of chronic wasting disease in the county so far,” she said.

Reiner said the park service creates a survey estimating deer populations in the park every spring.  “We drive through the park over three nights using an infrared camera. The number and location of deer are noted and entered into a spreadsheet. Software is used to estimate the population.”

“Our numbers were up a lot in the spring this year,” she said, “but this fall seems pretty normal.”

The park service thins the deer population every year between October and March.

Park Service Communications Specialist Jason Martz said the annual thinning was important to keep the population from overwhelming residential areas, but that deer are often seen in the borough.  

“If there was overflow and a lot of pressure you’d see a lot more deer in your back yard,” said Reiner.

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” she said. “This is probably the case of one deer getting into the square and freaking out.”

“But people sometimes freak out too. It’s one of those curiosities.”

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Charles (Chuck) Stangor is Gettysburg Connection's Owner, Publisher, and Editor in Chief. I would like to hear from you. Please contact me at cstangor@gettysburgconnection.org.

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David Michael McGlaughlin
David Michael McGlaughlin
1 year ago

While the photo in the Times yesterday was not the best, the animal looked like a kangaroo. No deer has a tail that long, and its front paws were far too short for a deer. I strongly suggest this animal was/is a kangaroo, not a deer.

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