Dear Deer

Some days I am faced with a predicament never before faced living here in the End of the Rainbow Valley.  Tuesday was one such day and it involved a deer, actually a fawn.

I was heading into town and after one curve come upon a blob in the middle of the road. I slowed and lo and behold discovered the blob was a fawn curled up who raised her head as I stopped. Obviously alive and as I opened the car door to shoo her off the small highway, she rose up very wobbly. It was then I saw the reason for her wobbliness, her right rear leg was just dangling. Basically hanging by bloody tendons. Not a pretty sight. She some  how had the strength to make it to the high grasses roadside.


OK, for right now she is safe. I worried about her the entire drive into town and decided I would check on her upon my return. If someone had hit her, why didn't they stop? Maybe she had gotten caught trying to clear the guard rail off the steep incline. Who knows?

Anyhow, she was still there and alive upon my return. My thoughts were she needs to be taken out of her misery.  One of my friends does animal rescue and rehab but just does small animals and besides how will this fawn survive in the wilderness if she lived. My only option was to go to a neighboring farm house and see if anyone was home.  (Thought process - they'll have a gun.)  Remember this is rural Wisconsin. Nobody was home until the third home, about a 1/2 mile away. Out in the garden a mom was picking tomatoes with her kids. After explaining the predicament, she looked at me and said, "We can't shoot it because we'd lose our hunting license." "Oh," I responded, "So who do you think I should call? She suggested the sheriff's office.

There's no cell reception so her daughter ran into the house, grabbed a phone book and brought out the cordless phone. I placed the call and before I could say why I was calling, was asked the address. I could see the fire number street side and the dispatcher said, "you've called the wrong county." "No, I don't think so," I retorted a bit peeved. Oh, she was looking at the map incorrectly and then listened to my dilemma and said the closest officer was about 20 minutes away. 

I decided to turn around and go wait roadside by the fawn so the officer wouldn't miss her. I waited and waited and thought if he doesn't show in half an hour, I'd leave. Maybe 3 cars drove by during the wait and despite my blinking lights, no one even slowed. Isn't that weird? Glad it wasn't me in dire straights. Finally in my rear view mirror I saw the black and white car which not only wasn't slowing but barreled by.  I stuck out my arm waving frantically. He stopped ahead. 

After hearing my story, seeing the fawn back in the grass. He says, "You know there are a lot of 3 legged deer out there." No, I didn't know. He said he'd have to call the DNR. "Well, whatever you need to do Sir." I feared the skiddish deer ending back on the road and causing an accident but I guess he didn't want to put the deer down. What else could I do? I told him I was going home.

I looked when I went back to town later in the day and the deer was gone. We can all imagine our own scenarios of this story's ending. Just another day in the Driftless Region...