The Chincoteague, Virginia High School football team apparently wasn't aware that it was holding tryouts for the position of right tackle. But at least one candidate tried out anyway. And best of all, he doesn't need any equipment. He's already got antlers.
CHINCOTEAGUE — Cameron Savage was riding his mo-ped back to work after lunch during a sweltering August afternoon when he noticed a large deer standing in the middle of Maddox Boulevard — one of the town's busiest thoroughfares.
He slowly inched the mo-ped forward, hoping to perhaps provoke the deer — he thought it to be a six-point buck — into moving out of the road.
Instead, it charged him, struck him head-on, damaged the front of his mo-ped and badly scraped his arms.
"It's just crazy," said Savage of the incident. "Deer are everywhere, even on Chincoteague."
Savage, 15, said his injuries were minor, with a bit of "road rash" on his arms and knees. Even so, his plans of playing on Chincoteague High School's football team this season have been temporarily put on hold until the results from more medical tests.
Most people visiting Chincoteague probably don't consider an overpopulation of deer to be a serious issue. However, the Town Office receives numerous complaints about deer throughout the year.
The island (and town of the same name), best known for its annual "pony penning" and auction, is getting help from the USDA in coping with their deer overpopulation. Which appears to be rather severe. (The ponies swim over from nearby Assateague Island – as do the deer.)
The island (and town of the same name), best known for its annual "pony penning" and auction, is getting help from the USDA in coping with their deer overpopulation. Which appears to be rather severe. (The ponies swim over from nearby Assateague Island – as do the deer.)
