Marilyn Hawkins is knocked down and kicked by a doe; the deer might face ‘lethal removal,’ says Police Chief O’Meara

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news 

Marilyn Hawkins was walking her rescue dog Terra on Lindsay Lane Thursday when a doe saw the pair and charged. 

“My dog was smart enough to run home,” Hawkins said. “The deer decided to shove me into the bushes and kick me.”

They don’t use sutures anymore, Hawkins said. Medicine has moved on to staples, and she has 17 in her right thigh and four in her left. 

“I was able to get into the fetal position, I knew to do that from other things, so she didn’t get my torso or my face,” she said. 

Six or seven neighbors came outside to help Hawkins Thursday, including a semiretired emergency room doctor who tended to her wounds while another neighbor called an ambulance. Ashland Fire & Rescue EMTs were “perfect,” and Asante Ashland Community Hospital staff took good care of her even though they were busy, Hawkins said. She was grateful Terra escaped unharmed. 

‘It could have been much worse’

“I have pain medication and I’ll be OK. … I was lucky, it could have been much worse,” she said. 

She did not blame the deer. As a mother with little fawns, Hawkins said, she was “doing her job.” Although she has not seen the fawns herself, neighbors have. She also confirmed she had heard secondhand that an additional neighbor had a less severe interaction with this deer. 

Hawkins urged Ashland residents walking dogs to be vigilant and respectful of wildlife during fawn season — June and July — as mama deer see dogs as a threat. Normally she would give wildlife a respectful berth, and in 17 years as an Ashland resident has never had a problem with the deer. But in this case the doe saw her first. 

“I have always loved them and I will continue to love them, but this deer is a menace,” she said. 

Earlier Friday morning, when Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara called her, Hawkins said they discussed the doe and the reality that she has fawns to care for but that people have been hurt. Hawkins said her ER doctor neighbor was going to supply nearby dog walkers with pepper spray. 

 “This is an impossible situation,” she said. 

Public agencies’ response 

“In the end it’s going to fall to us,” O’Meara said. 

Through many years of interactions with wildlife, APD has built a strong relationship with the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, he said. 

Fish & Wildlife staff, O’Meara and Ashland City Manager Sabrina Cotta have already discussed the Thursday evening attack and determined that the attacking doe and its injury of Hawkins may be exceptional and require an exceptional response. 

In his tenure as chief, O’Meara said, he has seen one bear and two or three cougars lethally removed, but those animals were potentially posing a threat in that they showed no fear of people. The deer in question has already attacked two people. 

O’Meara confirmed that an another resident of Hawkins’ neighborhood had a less severe encounter last week with the deer that injured Hawkins. 

‘Lethal removal’ is considered

“If that deer needs to be lethally removed, it falls to us,” O’Meara said. “It’s not unusual to have to put down injured deer — we do that fairly frequently — but I’m not sure if this has happened before.”

O’Meara, who came originally from the urban area of Detroit, said there was a learning curve in assessing the wildlife in Ashland. 

“The potential dangers with wildlife here are not the bears and cougars — it’s the deer,” he said. 

Attacks by does on dogs with some collateral damage for owners is an annual problem, but O’Meara said he cannot remember any previous deer that became aggressive enough to consider lethal removal.  

“We may be at that point. … The team is prepared and poised to respond,” he said. 

O’Meara said he is attempting to navigate the situation with the aggressive doe “in the most delicate way that I can,” with an understanding that some Ashland residents are dedicated to protecting wildlife while others want to prioritize public safety, and he is aware of the cute little fawns involved. 

In a Friday afternoon phone call to the ODFW, Ashland.news was informed that wildlife biologist Matthew Vargas was out in the field and not immediately available. 

Anyone with information about the deer that attacked Hawkins or other aggressive deer in Ashland is encouraged to contact Ashland.news. 

Marilyn Hawkins wrote a first-person piece in April for the Rogue Valley Times about adopting Terra, a rescue dog.

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected].