A "deer friend"...

[Chuck Leeper]

I lost my "deer friend" Squirrley, today.
About 6 mo's ago, my friend rescued a very small fawn off of a major hwy, near his home. His mother had been killed by a truck.
During his early days, Mike fed him goat milk w/ vitamins in it. He progressed to grass, deer mix, corn, and what some may say, developed a taste for "weird" food.
He absolutely went nuts over bananas, and saltine crackers!
He became my favorite "friend", in the animal world. His mischievous personality included untying my shoes, nibbling on my jacket, and nosing my pockets for treats.
Regardless of the day one would have, he was alway there w/ nuzzle in the pocket, a lick of your hand. Alot more than one receives from some humans...
As he got independent, Mike and I talked about opening his pen, and allowing him the chance to return to his wild world. He did, but always came back w/ a friend, [or2 , or 3], to eat what was put in his bowl.
I was at Mikes today. I asked if Squirrley was around. With tears in his eyes, Mike told me that someone had hit & killed him, in ft of the house.
Mike and I are going to bury him tomorrow.
The moral of this story: DO NOT try to fool mother nature.

 

[DailyDrifter]

That sucks.

 

[Russ Merritt]

Yea it does....Sorry Chuck!

 

[charlief1]

I lost my "deer friend" Squirrley, today.
About 6 mo's ago, my friend rescued a very small fawn off of a major hwy, near his home. His mother had been killed by a truck.
During his early days, Mike fed him goat milk w/ vitamins in it. He progressed to grass, deer mix, corn, and what some may say, developed a taste for "weird" food.
He absolutely went nuts over bananas, and saltine crackers!
He became my favorite "friend", in the animal world. His mischievous personality included untying my shoes, nibbling on my jacket, and nosing my pockets for treats.
Regardless of the day one would have, he was alway there w/ nuzzle in the pocket, a lick of your hand. Alot more than one receives from some humans...
As he got independent, Mike and I talked about opening his pen, and allowing him the chance to return to his wild world. He did, but always came back w/ a friend, [or2 , or 3], to eat what was put in his bowl.
I was at Mikes today. I asked if Squirrley was around. With tears in his eyes, Mike told me that someone had hit & killed him, in ft of the house.
Mike and I are going to bury him tomorrow.
The moral of this story: DO NOT try to fool mother nature.

I'm sorry Chuck. I had to laugh about the way it would get into your pockets for treats. This will teach you that mother nature has her own plans and if you aren't willing to suffer the heartbreak then don't do it. Bambi aint supposed to be a pet.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

When Mike..

"rescued" the fawn, I made mention that there would come a day when he'd grow up, approach a hunter, and get shot.
Or as MANY 100's do around here, get hit by a car.
We are virtually overrun w/ deer. The forestry dept had a registered hunt last month...300 in 2 days.
2 yrs ago, I made the mistake of planting a nice garden...ONLY once!!

Another of life's lessons learned....

 

[Warp6]

You guys did the best you could. The only other thing to do would have had the wildlife dept. come get the deer for proper rehabilitaion. Sorry for your loss. Critters have a way at getting into your heart. I think it's their innocence.

 

[boostingirl]

this is a sad story as i do wildlife rehab myself, i have been doing it for 15 years,it never gets easier when one pass's on

 

[alwayscode390]

Thats pretty sad, but just realize you appreciated and enjoyed EVERY second you had with the animal. A lot of people never get the chance that you had ---

 

[stack1]

A positive way of looking at it is that if your friend hadn't been there to rescue the fawn then it would have certainly died and not enjoyed the additional time that was given to it by your friend.