Quick Take
- The doe stayed eerily calm inside a busy supermarket, though one wrong move by shoppers could have turned the situation dangerous fast. See the full incident →
- One shopper grabbed something off the shelf to coax the deer out, and the approach actually worked. See how buns helped →
- North Carolina has far more deer than most people realize, which explains why encounters like this are becoming harder to dismiss as flukes. Explore NC deer population →
- Deer are supposed to bolt at fluorescent lights and crowds, so the behavior of this one raises an obvious question: what made it different? Find out why she stayed calm →
Most shoppers walk into a grocery store looking for bread, milk, or something they forgot to put on the list. This deer apparently had other plans. Footage recorded inside a North Carolina supermarket shows a doe calmly wandering through the aisles while shoppers follow along and eventually help guide her back outside. It is the kind of grocery run nobody in the store was expecting.
Deer Wanders Into a North Carolina Grocery Store
The footage was recorded on November 18, 2022, inside a Food Lion grocery store in Raleigh, North Carolina. Scott Simon, who recorded the encounter, captured the doe walking through an aisle as shoppers followed behind and tried to help steer her toward an exit. ABC News later shared the unusual supermarket visit.
Seeing a deer in North Carolina is hardly unusual, although finding one next to the bread aisle certainly is. According to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, the state has an estimated population of about one million white-tailed deer. They are common throughout the state and have adapted to habitats ranging from forests and farmland to increasingly developed suburban areas.
Shoppers Help Guide the Deer Back Outside
As the video begins, the doe is already strolling through the store with several people trailing behind her. She appears surprisingly calm considering the fluorescent lights, shopping carts, shelves, and curious humans surrounding her.
Simon told Storyful that he grabbed some buns and used them to help coax the deer toward the exit. Other people in the store joined in, and the group gradually guided her outside without creating a frantic chase. They then walked her toward a nearby wooded area, where Simon hoped she would reconnect with other deer.
Are Deer Easily Spooked?
Deer are herbivores, although their diets vary by species, habitat, and season.
©PatrikStedrak/iStock via Getty Images
Deer are wild prey animals and can be wary of unfamiliar sights, sounds, and movement. White-tailed deer in particular can react quickly when something startles them, although deer living around neighborhoods, parks, and other developed areas may become more accustomed to seeing people.
Wildlife officials even use that wariness when recommending ways to keep deer away from yards and gardens. The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife notes that loud noises, lights, and sprays of water can make deer uncomfortable around a property. It specifically identifies motion-activated sprinklers as one of the more promising deterrents.
The doe in this video stayed remarkably composed while shoppers helped her find the door, but that should not be taken as a sign that wild deer are tame. A frightened deer can bolt, kick, crash into windows, or injure itself while trying to escape. Giving the animal space and avoiding a noisy crowd is generally the safer approach. In this case, the shoppers kept things relatively calm, and the unexpected customer eventually made it back outside.
