LAKEVIEW — A young buck who has been roaming the North Side for a couple weeks will soon be in a new home away from busy city streets.
Neighbors in a Lakeview apartment complex were thrown for a loop Tuesday morning when they found the deer trapped in their courtyard.
Neighbors saw the full-grown deer as early as 5 a.m., nibbling on leaves and foliage in the courtyard of their building, 1329 W. Addison St.
"He's so cute," said resident Whitney Oppenheimer. "We have no idea how he got in here or where he came from."
The buck attracted quite a bit of attention from neighbors, particularly children who were convinced Rudolph had stopped by Lakeview for an early Christmas visit.
Oh, deer! #Lakeview has a visitor. pic.twitter.com/T31kGDRCAb
— Ariel Kringle (@arielfab) December 8, 2015The young buck calls nearby Graceland Cemetery, 4001 N. Clark St., its home, but it has been spotted running around the North Side for a couple weeks. One resident near Hamilton and Montrose avenues in Lincoln Square grabbed a shot of the deer on Thanksgiving.
An animal control officer said the buck is likely under a year old and was also seen in the Cubs parking lot near Clark and Grace and further west at Racine and Grace in the past couple weeks.
Got a note from a reader Dec. 3 with a photo of what looks like the same deer wandering around #Wrigleyville. pic.twitter.com/N7jZprPlqE
— Ariel Kringle (@arielfab) December 8, 2015Oppenheimer's building is like many in Lakeview — U-shaped with a courtyard in the middle. The building has a few entrances, one of which might have been left open over night, when the deer probably jumped at the chance to come right in, she said.
Neighbors did try to call the police, who directed them to animal control, Oppenheimer said.
Kathy Falbo, who lives next door, said she called 911 and they told her to call 311, which directed her to Animal Care and Control.
At first, Falbo was told animal control wasn't equipped to handle wild animals larger than a raccoon, but an officer arrived on scene around 11 a.m. He told DNAinfo that the department didn't typically tranquilize uninjured wildlife, particularly deer who could later be hunted, because they would then have poisoned meat.
By noon, animal control officers decided to use the tranquilizer to subdue the buck so it could be safely removed and relocated to the Forest Preserves of Cook County. However, there was a chance it would die in the process, Oppenheimer said, relaying what officials told the group.
It took four animal control officers and two police to lift the buck once it was tranquilized. Officials said animal control would examine the buck to make sure it was uninjured before releasing him in the forest preserve.
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