Deer Crashes Classroom: Are New York Deer Getting Dumber?

Deer have a reputation for being one of the dumbest animals we encounter in New York, but is one of them actually trying to further their education?

The New York State Department of Environmental Protection was called on February 8 about a deer that had entered a classroom through a plexiglass window. Oddly, this wasn't the first time wildlife had decided to head into a New York school.

In September, an alligator was spotted heading towards Van Wyck Junior High School. Someone who was staring out their window in the middle of the night spotted it and alerted DEC agents. Surprisingly, they took the late-night phone call claiming an alligator was roaming around the Hudson Valley seriously and sprung into action.

The deer that decided to enter a classroom this month was apparently seeking higher education at Stony Brook University. School officials directed officers to the animal in Harriman Hall where they launched a plan to capture it. In minutes, the DEC agents were able to get a "catch pole" around the head of the deer and safely escort it outside the building.

The deer turned out to be a 120-pound buck that had already shed its antlers. Aside from a small cut near one of its rear hoofs, the animal didn't appear to have any injuries. Because he was unharmed, agents quickly released the animal back into the wild.

Students who were in class at the time were moved to a different room and continued class without further interruption.

The whole incident took less than 45 minutes, which is hardly enough time for a human student to learn a lesson, let alone a deer dumb enough to climb through a school window. Sadly, it looks like the deer's not-so-bright friends are continuing to find themselves in awkward situations. A whitetail deer was just recently rescued from the basement of an unfinished home in Greene County.