Saint Francis the Deer Fawn

Dear Deer St. Francis

One day my husband and I were at work (we are nurses)when one of our co-workers named Hilda got a phone call from a brother of hers. He told her that he had been out plowing a field and had come across a little problem. He had seen a doe as she sprinted away but then discovered she had left her newborn fawn laying in the field right where he had to plow. He told Hilda that he had brought it to his house but had no idea what to do with it. He knew it would die quickly without help. This particular co-worker knew us pretty well and told her brother, "Bring it up here to work. I know exactly what to do." After she got off the phone she found us and told us that her brother was bringing something for us. We had no idea what in the world she was talking about. We didn't even know her brother but we trusted Hilda.

A few minutes later her brother walks in with one of the most precious sites I have ever seen. A white tail deer fawn so tiny and fragile it looked like it would shatter if you even touched it. Huge eyes that could melt any heart and tiny thin twigs for legs. His huge ears fluttered back and forth like butterfly wings. His little hooves were still even a bit soft he was so new to this world. Everything about him truly made you feel as though you were gazing upon the purest of innosence and fragility.

The young man said when he found the fawn it was so new that it was still actually wet. We explained to the young man that the best thing to do in such a situation is to not touch the baby and leave the area. The mother would be watching from a safe distance and would return to her baby as soon as she felt it was safe. He said he couldn't, that he had been paid to plow the field and this little one was right in the big middle of it.

My husband and I just looked at each other. We both knew that this was a real chalenge. We also knew it meant bottle feeding every 2 hours and a lot of TLC if this delicate darling was going to have any hopes of living. After just looking into eachother's eyes for a moment more we both just smilled, we knew the answer was "Yes. We can at least try to save him."

I called our head of nursing and explained the situation to her. I asked if I could go home and try to help the fawn. Shift change wasn't far away by then anyway but for the fawn every minute counted right then. She agreed without even hesitating.

We wrapped the baby gently but tightly in a blanket to help calm it, keep it warm and keep it from struggling too much on the ride home. Once there I started hunting through all our little stash of stuff to help baby animals. I knew it was going to be a long night but I also knew it was going to be one I would never forget.

When hubby got home he pitched in and it wasn't long before the fawn had a little food in his belly and he was sleeping comfortably on a heating pad. Hubby and I began wondering what we should name our unusual little friend. I remembered a statue I had seen in front of a church in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was a statue of Saint Francis and at his feet was a fawn. We figured this little guy could use all the help he could get so we named him St. Francis. We set the alarm clock for 2 hours and went to get what sleep we could.

My husband and I took turns feeding and caring for St. Francis for the first few critical days to come. When my son found out about St. Francis he pitched in and helped too. He cared for St. Francis while we were at work.

We had made him a little box with warm bedding to sleep in but that didn't last long. By the third day he had decided he liked sleeping on the floor on my side of the bed. We didn't need to set an alarm clock at night anymore because St. Francis would take one of those fragile looking front feet and begin tapping me on the arm or leg just like any human might try to wake someone up. No, I'm honestly not kidding, he really did!

He turned our old dog into his playmate and loved romping around the house. He would go running at old Lobo then leap right over his back. He would run up and down the hall jumping, bouncing and kicking. It was so awsome to see. He could easily melt anyones heart. It was like watching a little miracle somehow and very humbling. Each day I would take him outside to learn how it felt to run in the grass and give him a chance to get some real exercise.

Another favorite game was to play on our waterbed. He would leap into the air and come flying back down onto the bed. The point of the game was to make a 4-point landing, which he rarely managed to do. He was hysterical to watch and totally endearing! His whole little world was his playground and if he wasn't eating or sleeping he was playing with all his heart. St. Francis didn't do anything half way.

He grew so very fast. Our time with him was really very fleeting but so full of joy and magic that there just aren't any words to express it.

When he reached about 5 months old our dear, deer St. Francis went to live in a special ranch run by the state government precisely set up to care for little orphans like him. It was time he learned what it meant to be a deer. I cried buckets and cried for days to come I missed him so badly but I knew it was the best thing for him. Deer were never meant to be captive pets but wild and part of Mother Natures plan. My husband and I will always be grateful for those few months that St. Francis came to live with us.

I want to end this story with a request from St. Francis. If you ever come across a fawn laying in the grass please don't touch him. Quietly walk away so his mother can come back to her baby and raise it in the wild as nature intended. Deer do grow at an amazing rate and they are wild animals. As they mature they become more and more difficult to handle and can even hurt you.

Thank you, St. Francis, for the magic you brought into our lives.