A wild deer was caught on CCTV footage smashing through a Benalla shop last week.
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An unexpected, furry customer with no ‘i-deer’ how to use the front door came crashing through the back glass door of a Benalla shop last week, giving shop manager Melissa Gee and her customers the fright of their lives.
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A wild deer was caught on CCTV footage bursting through the back door of Benalla fashion and homewares store Rambling Roseon Friday, October 30.
For Melissa, the day had started out just like any other.
She had opened the store and was busy tidying up while a few customers browsed the racks when, all of a sudden, she heard a deafening crash.
“It was this humongous crash and shatter,” Melissa said. “It was really sudden and, as you can imagine, it took everyone by surprise.”
Standing at the front of the store, Melissa looked towards the back entrance, where a glass door opened on to the car park.
From where she was standing all she could see was that the door had been smashed ― then she heard a strange noise that she described as like “boulders rolling along the concrete floor”.
“It wasn't rocks rolling along the ground though,” Melissa said.
“It was this deer trying to stand up on the concrete floor. It kept slipping, and it was just sliding across the concrete until it reached the carpet at the front of the store where I was standing.”
Another customer, who had only walked into the shop seconds prior, was caught in the chaos. With nowhere to go she was forced to hide in the clothing rack.
“The deer just ran right past her and smashed through the front windows out on to the main footpath, turned left and then just kept running,” Melissa said.
Despite its dramatic entrance and departure, the four-legged visitor left the store without damaging a single item.
“It just left an insane amount of mess and glass everywhere but would you believe, it didn't actually break one item of stock,” Melissa said.
The incident was over quickly, with Melissa estimating it lasted about 10 seconds, although the shock lingered for some time.
“It was just the initial sound of everything; it was really frightening,” she said.
“It sounded like we were being ram-raided or something. That’s how insane that sound was.
“It could have been so much worse, thank God it wasn't and no-one was hurt.
“The deer didn’t seem to be injured at all, there was fur left on the floor where the glass was, but there was no blood or anything, so I think it was miraculously unharmed.”
After the incident, Melissa immediately called 000, no doubt making for one of the more unusual calls of the day.
She said her initial reaction had been one of complete disbelief, even wondering whether her mind was playing tricks on her.
“I said to the girls, ‘my gosh, lucky you’ve got the security footage because imagine explaining this to the insurance company’,” Melissa said.
A customer was forced to hide in a clothing rack as the deer ran through the store.
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Meanwhile, shop owner Mim McKenzie was on her way to Melbourne when she received a message from someone working across the road asking whether a deer had run into the store.
Mim rang Melissa right away to see if everything was okay and was shocked when she heard what had happened.
“I just could not believe it when she told me,” Mim said.
“It’s pretty unbelievable.”
Mim said it was lucky the deer didn’t jump around the store, especially with the extra stock they have at this time of year as they get ready for Christmas.
“My brother is a glazier, so we were able to get him to come straight away and clean up all the glass for us and replace it within a couple of hours,” she said.
“It definitely could have been a lot worse.”
It is uncertain at this stage if the deer-ly unexpected customer will return to cover the damages, although employees sure hope not.
