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By DAVID OLIVE
For The Daily Gleaner

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A Tracyville man is shaken up but OK after he was bowled over by a deer in a "one-in-a-million" incident.

Joe Bil said he was taking out the trash recently when he thought he heard a cat prowling around near his home.

"I could hear something coming across the lawn," Bil said. "First, I thought it was the cat, but as it got closer, I said, 'Well, it's an awful big cat.' The cat always comes running when I come out.

"I rounded the corner and pow - he run right over the top of me. But the horns never touched me. I got bowled over and it hurt my back and the buck just went over by the road and looked at me. I got up to get my bearings, looked around and I thought someone was trying to kick the crap out of me." The deer then ran to a nearby ditch before being scared away by a passing car.

Bil said he's OK despite a few scratches and a sore back.

He said deer have been coming out to feed around his apple tree in his back yard. Other bucks have been around the last few weeks.

Provincial forest ranger Roger Collet said this is the first local incident he's heard about where a deer charged a human.

"I never heard any local stories of a white-tail buck deer attacking someone," he said. "But they do act odd this time of year ... It's possible it could happen."

Rod Cumberland, a fish and wildlife expert for the Department of Natural Resources, said this is a "one-in-a-million occurrence."

"It sounds like an accident," he said. "But it doesn't surprise me, as it has happened in other jurisdictions."

Experts say it's best to keep your distance from wild animals. Officials recently advised residents to avoid feeding wild animals during the winter.

"The New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources does not condone the feeding of deer because of associated biological and social problems," said department biologist Joe Kennedy.

"It is in the best interest of both deer and the public to allow deer to feed themselves in their natural habitat."