PET DEER -SHOT

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 80, Issue 7181, 27 March 1950, Page 4

PET DEER -SHOT

UNSPORTSMANLIKE DEED MR B. MCDONALD’S WELLKNOWN ZAMBA One of the best known pets in the district, a Zamba deer, caught about 12 months ago by Mr B. MacDonald, of Woodstock Road, Hairini, was shot about last Wednesday by some “trig-ger-happy” huntsman. The deer, a stag called “Bamby”, was caught in the Urawera Country and brought home by Mr MacDonald. It turned into a wonderful pet which has been seen and admired by hundreds of people. It had a free rein to wander around the district where Mr MacDonald lives, and it was known and liked by the many residents. It trusted everyone with whom it came in contact and it is easy to imagine it standing quietly by while the unsportsmanlike , hunter took aim with his rifle and shot it dead. He could have gone to it and put his arms around its neck. Whoever it was, he is not worthy of being called a sportsman. CommonsAise should have told him that a deer would not wander so far out into the settled country, least of all when they are in velvet, at which time, too, they are particularly docile. If the person who did the deed considers himself a sportsman, then he should have another think coming. No self-respecting sportman would even contemplate so despicable a deed as shooting a tame deer. Led A Parade

An instance which admirably illustrates how popular Bamby used to be was given at the Te Awamutu Primary School Calf Club Group Day at which Bamby was awarded special merit. The programme was held up because so many people took an interest in the stag. He also led the parade of animals that day, conducting himself regally as would any king. He was in the velvet at the time he was shot, and remarkably for a two-year-old stag, was putting forth six points on his antlers. When he was caught last year as a yearling, he was only a “spiker.” From that stage they grow up to what is known as four pointers at two years old, and then, depending on their environment, to a maximum for a Zamba, of six points.

When the antlers harden, tame deer are liable to become treacherous, but that contingency had been forseen by Mr MacDonald who intended sending the deer to a zoo during that period. Zamba do not come out of the velvet stage until two to three months after Red* Deer, so that there were still several months to go before any trouble could be expected from Bamby. Great favourite with the children on Mr Storey’s farm on Woodstock Road, where Mr MacDonald works, Bamby’s eaily death met with a tearfully *sad reception. Mr D. Storey with his son John, intended to show Bamby at any shows which eventuated around the district, but unfortunately that can never be done. One interesting point may be derived from the fact that Mr MacDonald kept watch on the deer to see what his favourite foods were, and noticed that it had a penchant for herbs such as dandelions. It ate some grass, but only small quantities.