CARBONDALE - Southern Illinois University Carbondale officials said they are trying everything they can to keep people safe in an odd series of deer attacks, but at least one of the 12 victims confronted by the animals in the past year has slapped a lawsuit against the campus.

Doctoral student Zhimin "Nancy" Wang is suing the university for more than $50,000 over injuries she received June 7, 2005, when a doe confronted her in front of Morris Library, said attorney Tiffany Sievers, who works for the Beard Law Firm in Marion. Sievers said Wang suffered a broken clavicle bone in the attack, adding the break left the bone permanently askew.

Wang was the second person injured on the first day deer attacks were reported last year. Eight other people were injured by doe by the end of that month. The doe were aggressive because of the fawning season, which runs from the end of May through June.

Sievers said the law firm initially contacted SIUC on Wang's case June 21, 2005. The firm never got a response and filed suit two weeks ago, she said.

No one from the university's legal counsel office was available for comment on the case when contacted by The Southern Illinoisan.

Tuesday marked a renewed series of fawning season attacks, when three people walking along a path near the SIUC campus lake were charged by a doe. One of the victims required stitches for a gash in her forehead. The woman is doing fine, campus officials said.

SIUC Department of Public Safety Director Todd Sigler wasn't aware of any specific lawsuits filed against the university when asked about the potential for victims of the deer attacks to sue.

"I'm told by our attorneys that people can be subject to sue for just about anything," Sigler said. "I know the university is trying to take a very proactive approach to the problem and guide people away from the areas that are problematic. I think for some people, they are getting the message, but for others it may take some additional notice on our part to make it happen."

The campus is in the middle of a campaign designed to make people aware of aggressive doe through the fawning season. Officials have urged caution, especially when people are walking near wooded areas. They also suggested if a person confronts a deer to turn and run away as fast as possible.

Eric Hellgren, director of the SIUC Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, said doe attacks on humans are rare, but they are likely occurring on campus because of the close proximity in which people and animals exist.

The wildlife research laboratory will present a public lecture, "The Nature of Deer-Human Conflicts: Avoiding Deer-Human Encounters of the Third Kind on Campus," at 4 p.m. today in room 1059 of the Life Science III building.

Deer attack victims speak

Two of victims in Tuesday's deer attack recounted their experiences to The Southern Illinoisan Wednesday.

SIUC Police Sgt. Harold Tucker was the first to confront the doe Tuesday near the campus lake around 12:30 p.m. He told about his incident during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Tucker said he regularly walks the path around the lake and was doing do when the deer jumped from high brush along the path and stood in his way. He said the deer obviously felt he had encroached on her territory and he tried to escape.

"As I turned to run she reared up and hit me on my shoulder hard enough that it knocked me into a tree very hard," Tucker said. "And from there I glanced off the tree and right into the lake."

Tucker said he was "very blessed" the deer could not get to him in the water, because he said the animal looked as if she had intentions to continue attacking him.

The police officer said he didn't think the doe would have killed him, but she was definitely trying to protect something. Tucker added he never saw any fawns in the area.

Henry Dews, a 58-year-old English student, said he had decided to take a walk along the lake path sometime after 1 p.m. Tuesday. He saw a police squad car in the vicinity, which turned out to be responding to the deer attacks on Tucker and the 30-year-old female who required stitches, but Dews said he wasn't warned about going down the path.

"Three-fourths of the way down there I see the deer," said Dews, who contacted The Southern Wednesday morning. "I always give wild animals plenty of space. I'm not one of those people who think it is cute to get close to them."

Dews said he thought he was far enough away when he turned to leave, but the deer suddenly crossed his path. When he turned away again to run, the doe charged at his back, clipping Dews in the neck with her hoof. The doe reared up several more times before backing off.

Dews went to the squad car to report the incident. "After I came down there¦that's when they started telling people not to go down there," he said.

The area where the attacks occurred continued to be cordoned off Wednesday, and the suspect doe was still stalking the territory during the morning.

caleb.hale@thesouthern.com

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