A deer jumped through the Place to Bead show window on Witherspoon Street Thursday morning.
By: Jennifer Potash
Whether seeking some stylish turquoise beads or just frightened by rush-hour traffic, a deer jumped through the Place to Bead show window on Witherspoon Street Thursday morning.
Michael Henninger, who works at Nelson Glass on Spring Street, had just left Abel Bagel on Witherpsoon Street when he saw the doe leap off the sidewalk and through the bead shop window.
"Then I saw her bounding through the store trying to get out," Mr. Henninger said.
A passing car seemed to frighten the animal, he said.
The incident occurred at 8:35 a.m. and the store was closed at the time, said Princeton Borough police Lt. Dennis McManimon.
Princeton Animal Control Officer Mark Johnson responded to the call by the police. He tranquilized the animal which he said was not injured before releasing it in a wooded area.
There are several herds of deer in Princeton Borough, Mr. Johnson said, including a small herd of about five or six deer on the grounds of the Princeton Cemetery.
Later in the morning, a new window was installed and A Place to Bead owner Steve Schreiber was cleaning up the broken glass and spilled beads.
"It was a mess," he said.
Robert Seda-Schreiber, whose father owns the bead shop, said his family does not support neighboring Princeton Township’s deer-management plan and does not want this incident used by proponents to support future culls.
"It’s not the animal’s fault," he said. "It’s because we’ve built up where these animals’ homes were and they have no place else to go."
This is not the first time a deer has patronized a downtown shop.
Burt Sferra, a longtime barber at the Continental Barber Shop on Witherspoon Street, recalled an afternoon in October 1993 when a deer crashed through the shop’s glass door.
Mr. Sferra and his brother, Tony, were giving haircuts to two customers when the deer, which had been struck by a car, smashed into the barber shop.
"She nearly gave me a haircut," he said with a laugh.
The deer ran to a mirror in the back of the shop, with its front legs scrambling up the wall as if it were trying to escape into the outdoors in the reflection, he recalled. His brother held the shattered glass door open and the deer slowly walked out in the direction of the cemetery, Mr. Sferra said.
Mr. Sferra said he was pleased the deer at the bead store decided not to drop by for a haircut.