Happy Birthday to Blossom the Rescue Fawn!
I posted this to Rural/Farm,
but thought it has wider appeal than the 4 members of Rural/Farm,
so I re-posted it here.
My Wife says that I should give Sweet Tea her own Facebook Page,
and I might if I can figure out what FaceBook is.
Blossom came to live with us in July of 2011.
She was about 3 weeks old.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=268x5178
She is a year old now,
and has grown into a beautiful, young Doe.
She has shed her drab Winter coat,
and her Summer colors are awesome with striking red highlights.
We called her "Sweetee" when she was little because that mimicked the "Eee..Eee"
sounds she made as a fawn. That morphed in her Big Girl name of Sweet Tea,
though her Proper Name is still Blossom.
She is free to come and go as she chooses in our very rural area.
We thought she would join the wild deer that roam this area,
and we have seen her with other deer,
but we believe she stays fairly close.
She usually sleeps somewhere Off Campus,
and appears at random times during the day,
especially if she hears us talking or working outside.
She is very quiet and can sneak up unnoticed.
An unexpected tug on the back of a TeeShirt can be very startling, especially if someone believes he is alone in very rural surroundings.
((GASP)”Oh. Its you”. (Clutching heart) “You scared the shit out of me.”)
In cooler weather, my Wife & I will take an evening Walk in the Woods.
Our two cats have always gone with us, and now Sweet Tea has become a regular member of the entourage.
(Thank gawd the chickens don't follow too.)
Like most of us, she has discovered that it is better to be hand fed.
Food always taste better when someone else does the work.
In this case, "the work" was picking a branch off the same bush she was eating.
Now that the Summer heat is here, we sit in the shade in the evenings,
and Sweet Tea has become a regular part of the Family Time ritual.
Everyone agrees that in the Summer Heat, Shade is Good.
While she may or may not appear during the day,
she always shows up about an hour before sunset.
We initially thought that she was doing this for easy food during the Winter,
but now she has plenty of forage, and will hang out just for the company.
She and our big Male Mouser (Monkee) still enjoy their special relationship that started before she was big enough to go outside.
She thinks she is Da Bomb,
....and, of course, she is.
Sweet Tea has become a family member.
We look forward to our shared evenings together,
but we are careful to remind each other that this could end at any time for various reasons, some of them very bad. We don’t have the heart to keep this beautiful animal in a pen. Today could be the day that she doesn’t come home.
If that day comes, we will cry and grieve, but cherish what she has already given us.
A Note of Caution:
[font color=firebrick]Sweet Tea IS a Wild Animal![/font]
Deer are very high strung.
There are reasons why they have never been domesticated.
While she is gentle and loving most of the time,
if she is startled, she is EXPLOSIVE, POWERFUL and DANGEROUS.
She is especially nervous on windy days when there is a lot of movement, noise, and the Sense of Smell is diminished.
We always let her approach us,
and never get between her and the way out.
Deer are especially dangerous to themselves and anyone else in confined spaces.
Male Deer (Bucks) have attacked and killed their keepers during Rut.
We would not consider keeping a Buck.
Since Sweet Tea is a wild animal, there are no vaccines or medicines that are approved for her,
and no licensed Veterinarian will treat her. Deer can carry diseases that are transmittable to Humans, such as Lyme Disease. If she becomes sick or seriously injured, we will have no options.
= new reply since forum marked as read
She is indeed quite beautiful. Love the photos of her with your cats 
Thanks very much for sharing this; I'm going to bookmark it, and share it with others not on DU.
Thank you so much for telling us about this. You've made my day -- even though it's early, yes, my day is already made, and you did it. Thank you, bvar22.
