STOP: We were compelled to write this after a recent trip through Allegany State Park. Near the benches beside Red House Lake, a deer stood grazing — we wish we could say peacefully.

A woman was standing within arm’s reach of the deer, taking photos.

We really hope she wasn’t local. 

She may have been lucky that time, but what about if she were to try it with an elk or a bear?

That deer likely has lost its fear of humans, which is dangerous for both humans and the animal. Both will see the other as non-threatening. Deer are more likely to enter human-dominated areas which can lead to attacks on people or pets, property damage and more deadly encounters with vehicles.

We’ve grown up in the Pennsylvania Wilds, hearing teachers, hunters, the Game Commission, and educators of all kinds telling us what should be common sense — those animals are not pets. Leave them alone.

Not only could encounters with wild animals lead to attacks on people, but animals getting too close to inhabited areas could result in the deer having to be euthanized.

Deer can carry diseases like rabies, or even drop off some ticks that are only too happy to latch on to a human host.

The National Park Service has very clever messages on its social media about staying away from wild animals, reminding people of things like selfies with a bison are not worth your life.

Maybe humor will succeed where cautionary warnings have failed. From the NPS Facebook: “Bison may look friend-shaped, but they already have all the friends they want. Keep your distance and don’t make it awkward.”

Their Christmas cookies feature cutouts of people getting tossed by angry bison.