Woman Fined $550 for Feeding Mule Deer

The Realblog with Stephanie Mallory

Woman Fined $550 for Feeding Mule Deer

Posted 2020-02-17T23:05:00Z

Colorado resident Lori Dixon says she's learned her lesson after posting videos of deer in her home

Colorado resident Lori Dixon was fined $550.50 for feeding wild deer inside her home. Videos that were apparently filmed and shared by Dixon show a nice mule buck and some does eating slices of white bread from someone's hand, and raw carrots from a table. Officers with Colorado Parks and Wildlife saw the videos, and issued the citation.

CPW officer Jason Clay told CBS 42 that Dixon's actions were, Unethical, unlawful and dangerous. When you feed wildlife they become habituated. They expect to be fed and they associate humans with food, Clay said.

Dixon says she's learned her lesson. I do not advocate at all for people to interact with our wildlife, especially not in the manner in which I do, Dixon said.

She said her interaction with the deer began back when an injured deer came to her porch years ago, and she patched him up. Dixon said she was a vet tech for 7 years, and had previously worked with wildlife.

If something comes to me and needs my help, I'm going to help it," she said.

But as Clay points out, even those who think they're helping wildlife often end up hurting them.

They may think it's harmless, they may think it's helpful, they may think that wildlife can't get by during winter, but doing that causes more harm than good, he said.

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