Stag fright: Oh deer I've been gored
May 16, 2008 12:00am

A MAN is recovering in hospital with a hole in his upper thigh after being charged by Starlight, a 100kg stag at a farm near Penrith today.

Harry Lewis, 26, was struck on the leg by Starlight's antlers at the Berkshire Park Bird Farm near Penrith, at 11am (AEST) today.

Barry Hibbard, whose wife owns the farm, said Mr Lewis had walked into the deer paddock despite signs warning against doing so.

Currently in the midst of breeding season, the territorial stag Starlight took umbrage to the incursion and charged Mr Lewis.

"(Harry) who lives here, was mowing the lawn and put all the stuff into a barrow to take down to the paddock where the deer reside, opened the gate and went in there,'' Mr Hibbard said.

''(He) didn't read the signs, and of course the deer has hit him with his antlers.

"So he hotfooted it out of there with a hole in his upper thigh.''

Mr Lewis was rushed to Nepean Hospital where he is in a stable condition.

Mr Hibbard said today's goring was the first at the two-hectare farm.

There were 11 deer on the property, including two-year-old Starlight.