Deer keep attacking Rudolph decoration outside B.C. home

Many of us have traditional decorations that we put up around or outside the home during the holidays. Lights, garlands, characters from the season.

For Arlene Chmelyk of Fort Nelson—a northern B.C. town near the Alaska border—one of those is a deer with a red light bulb attached to its nose that her family has named Rudolph. Of course, this name comes from the Christmas song, but this famous attachment hasn't kept Rudolph safe.

Every year, Rudolph is attacked by actual male deer from the area. They think that the odd decoration is competition for females. Sadly, this situation has only one outcome.

Watch how it unfolds for poor Rudolph below!

Tis the season ... rutting season!

Unfortunately, it is the timing of the holidays that really does Rudolph in here.

It just so happens that December is the end of rutting season for deer. This is when deer are looking to mate and competition between males for females is at its peak. So even though Rudolph is just an archery target—a life-size model of a deer that hunters use for target practice—he never stands a chance against a nearby forest full of jealous bucks.

Still Arlene and her family are determined to stand up for their decoration. No matter how many times Rudolph is knocked over or damaged, they put him back up. We salute that positive determination—it's an example we could all draw something from these days, right?

Speaking of which, we here at OWLconnected wish all of our fantastic readers an amazing holiday season. We're taking a break for the next few days and will be back with something fun on December 27!