Kelowna

The Adventures of Lucky the deer

Photo: Contributed

Lucky with orchard netting caught in his antler in September 2012.

Photo: Contributed

Lucky when he did not have anything on his antler (for two years he only had one antler).

Photo: Contributed

Lucky with a burlap bag caught in his antler in 2010.

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A wild, furry creature has been visiting some Knox Mountain residents so regularly, they have named him.

Lucky, a five-year-old deer, is not that difficult to identify. For one, he is missing one of his antlers. But he is also a regular visitor of residents of Magic Estates, sometimes like clockwork.

“If he didn’t have bad luck, he wouldn’t have any luck at all,” says resident Erwin Sommerfeld of how he and his neighbours came up with the deer’s name. “He’s been lucky to survive.”

“Normally, they don’t last that long, because some hunter gets them, but because he is in the (Knox Mountain) park here, he is kind of protected.”

The visits have become so frequent—and interesting—Sommerfeld has started to catalogue the encounters.

“This is our delinquent pet deer Lucky's third episode:

• The first episode was in 2009; he showed up with a hammock on his antlers that cost him his right antler for two years.
• The second episode was in 2010, when he showed up with a burlap bag on his only antler.
• The third episode, 2012, you can see in the attached photo with an orchard netting on his antlers."

Sommerfeld figures Lucky lost his first antler in a struggle with a wrought-iron fence. “He must have struggled and pulled it right out of his head.”

Since that unfortunate incident, Lucky has grown a one-point antler on the right side.

Ed. note: Let's hope Lucky starts to live up to his name.