LAVALE, Md. — It was a shocking way to start a day.
At about 6 a.m., Theresa Stevens walked outside her home with her dog and found herself nose to nose with a deer.
“It stood up on its back legs and hit me in the cheek with one hoof and on the shoulder with the other,” Stevens said.
The shocked woman pushed the animal away, grabbed her dog and called to her husband, who was still in bed.
When told him why she was screaming for help, “he thought I was crazy,” she said.
The animal was found lying by the couple’s car. It was emaciated and injured, perhaps hit by a car. The Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service was called and the animal was euthanized.
Tests later showed the deer had rabies. Stevens, who sustained cuts to her hands, said she developed a bad headache and muscle pain seven days after the incident and began vaccinations that evening.
“I won’t be hospitable to any more wildlife,” Stevens said.
