A school in Aberdeen, NJ, was locked down yesterday after a deer jumped through a classroom window. More specifically, it was a buck that joined a fifth grade class that was finishing up a vocabulary lesson.
The Asbury Park Press says the animal "burst through the double-paned lower window of the classroom...charged straight through the room and left through an already open door, dashing into the hallway." The Lloyd Road School, about 38 miles from NYC, ordered all that rooms be closed, but the buck headed to the nurse's office and (empty) teachers' lounge before being captured in the cafeteria by police and school employees.
The school's principal told the NY Times that the deer seemed to be "afraid and a little bit disoriented." Some wild life experts suggested that the deer may have seen his reflection in the window and thought it was a rival - it is almost breeding season. Once released, the deer tried to jump through another school window! (He ultimately ran off.) No one was hurt, but the school has made sure to provide counseling for traumatized students.
Deer are no stranger to the city. In fact, earlier this year, many more deer have been spotted on Staten Island; the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation believe the deer have been swimming from NJ to Staten Island's shores. This has prompted some Staten Islanders to catch the hunting bug, but hunting is illegal in NYC.
