CITY HALL -- A Staten Islander was nearly impaled by antlers after taking selfies with a deer a few weeks ago.

Ryan Blanco was on a Sunday afternoon stroll in the Staten Island Greenbelt on Nov. 6 when he said a deer "took a liking" to him.

"He just let me start petting him," said 41-year-old Blanco, who lives in New Springville and often hikes through the nearby parkland. "I took some pictures and I hung out with him for about 20 minutes."

Blanco said the buck followed when he began to walk home.

"He starts walking next to me," Blanco said. "But then he passed me and blocked my path -- he didn't want me to leave."

The deer attacked Blanco.

"He charged at me and I was lucky enough to grab him by the antlers and I was able to push him backward," he said.

The deer ran away a few yards and Blanco eventually escaped unscathed.

"I said to myself, 'I'm going to walk away now,'" he recalled. "My phone battery was dying so if something did happen no one was going to find me until tomorrow morning."

Touching wildlife is prohibited in the Greenbelt and other parks property unless authorized by the Parks Department.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation also discourages physical interactions with wildlife apart from authorized hunting, traping and fishing.

"Wild animals are just that -- wild. That is why it's best to appreciate them from a distance," Sarah Aucion, chief of Wildlife and Education at Parks, said in a statement. "Do not to touch or approach them for your own safety, and for theirs."

The Parks Department strongly discourages touching wildlife anywhere, given the risks of disease transmission, bites or attacks associated with attempting to touch or successfully touching an animal.

The Health Department noted that some diseases can spread from animals to people or vice versa, like rabies, salmonella and parasites.

"To prevent diseases from being spread back and forth it is best not to handle or touch wild animals," the Health Department said in a statement. "If you see an animal that appears sick or injured, call 311 to be connected to animal control."

The city is currently performing vasectomies on hundreds of male deer to cut down and manage Staten Island's white-tailed herd. There have been 468 vasectomies so far.

An unrestrained and expanding deer herd can harm parks and private property, wander into roads more often and spread tick-borne illness.

Blanco said he knows to pull ticks off after a hike and doesn't regret touching the deer.

"I'm not too scared to go back over there -- it's just part of their defensive instinct," he said. "It's hard to explain the feeling I got -- I've never had that kind of close encounter."

Blanco said he wouldn't recommend others do the same, though he's on the lookout for the same deer.

"I have no regrets at all," he said. "It was the experience of a lifetime."