What part of the country?

Edited to add: You made my day! Thanks.

... in a very rural area of the Ouachita Mountains.
We moved here from Minneapolis in 2006 looking to live as Sustainably & Independently as possible.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=268x2601

So far, so good.
Thanks for the kind words!

For survival in the Wild, the Momma Deer has to tell the fawn when & where it is OK to use the bathroom. The Fawn is born with this instinct so that they don't give away their Hideout to predators with sensitive noses.

A human Momma Deer can simulate this by leading the fawn to another area, and rubbing the fawn's rear end with a warm, wet wash cloth. The fawn will poop right in the washcloth which makes things easier. Their poop is pellets (like a rabbit), and near odorless, unless they get diarrhea which is a whole different nightmare. (My poor wife).
This is not a duty that we could share. The fawn bonds with and trusts only her Momma.

We are in the process (a long, never ending process) of building/re-building/fixing up/ renovating/saving the abandoned, 1/2 finished cabin that was on the property we bought, so we weren't too worried about the "housebreaking". There were several areas where we put down some old carpet scraps, covered them with some old towels, and that was "it". We changed and washed the towels frequently.

They do grow up very fast the first few months, and we were able to move her outside before things got too bad. We then threw out the old carpet scraps, and washed down the bare plywood flooring with diluted bleach.

We were both pleasantly relieved that the fawn doesn't make much odor...
very mild. I guess this is for survival. A stinky fawn wouldn't last very long in a environment filled filled with hungry predators with excellent noses.

In some ways, caring for very young fawns is more difficult than normal pets, and even human children. My wife was an excellent 24/7 Deer Momma, sleeping on the floor with her for the first 6 weeks, taking her to the bathroom frequently, and doing all those things real Deer Mommas do, including taking her for walks and teaching her to forage for food.

Neither of us had any experience raising fawns, but found that it is not uncommon in this area,
and we were able to access a lot of information, both online, and from others who had done the same thing. It is legal to keep up to 5 wild animals in Arkansas, and unfortunately, fawns lose their mothers all too often.

One of our neighbors took in a fawn 4 years ago. The substitute Deer Momma became so attached that she couldn't separate. They now live with a full grown Doe in their house.
The Deer Momma and her baby watch TV on the couch together.
This is not as idyllic as it sounds.
They have had to cover their windows with plywood to keep her from trying to Jump Out if she gets frightened, and they never have visitors.
They have sectioned off the house, and the part that belongs to the deer opens to a small outside pen with high wood fencing.

This neighbor was able to give us much good information,
including the advice to move Blossom to an outside pen and separate asap.

My Wife & Blossom still have a very special relationship.
Blossom likes me, accepts me as a friend, and will walk with me in the woods,
but she LOVES her Deer Momma,
and will leave me in an instant if she sees her Momma, or even hears her voice,
bounding and leaping with tail wagging joy to run to her Momma.
I am glad I am not a jealous man.

was a fawn but we could not find it after hunting for a week. Hopefully it was old enough to survive.

what fun!

But, honestly, she can be a pest at times,
like trying to eat a piece of fruit when she is around.

She doesn't want just a piece.
She wants the whole thing!
How can you say No?

wtf? who could blame her?

I will pass on your Birthday Greetings to Blossom this evening.

"Like the James Taylor song!" I had completely forgotten about that song (quite popular when I was in high school.)

So Blossom can claim a theme song, if she likes.

That song is perfect for her!

I had forgotten it too.
We ALL had that album,
and James Taylor is still one of my very favorites.

Much appreciated!

It made me smile to think of Blossom listening to "Blossom."

Please give her a pet (or an apple!) from her Auntie Beac in VA.

She seem to understand that food was in my bucket and she ate out of the outside trough with the sheep. She looked about the age of your Sweet Tea. She seemed very thin considering my fat sheep and with such big eyes. She let me pet her and rub her neck. She wasn't injured in any way. So, she hung out with the sheep and me for about an hour. Then, she ran off when she saw some dogs on the ridge. Jumped the fence like it wasn't even there.

I think she had to be someone's pet. It was such an odd encounter. I felt like Snow White when the forest animals all come to her in the Disney cartoon.

Hello,

I followed a post to your beautiful pictures of your sweet deer, Blossom. The post is several years old, and I wonder how Blossom is doing?

In 1999, I rescued a deer and also named her Blossom. She became part of our family and lived in and out of our home for ten years. She was featured in a documentary in 2013 on Nat'l Geographic Nature channel. I was asked to write a book about our relationship. It was published earlier this year.

We lived in a hunting community in Tewksbury, NJ and decided to campaign for her life by inviting our local hunters to meet her. They became her friends, mostly.

Anyhow, I hope your beautiful doe, and her friends, are doing well. Your lovely pictures brought back so many memories. Thank you.

Anna Carner