Our Girl Pearl
You’re going to hate this, but is how the text started. Generally when Jeff’s texts start this way, I know I’m in for something that I probably will hate but have no control over. I just have to accept what comes next.
James’ neighbor found an orphaned baby deer and it needs a home. I’ve always wanted pet deer!
It was the beginning of June 2020 and life was far from normal. In February we had the main level of our very small house gutted. Construction went smoothly until it didn’t and we spent most of April using our bathtub as a kitchen sink. My job at Great Outdoor Store had gone remote with reduced hours so I decided to beef up the farm operations. Joe, our farm intern for the summer, had just arrived and the RV that he was going to live in hadn’t. Our barn was being refurbished by an unpredictable crew whose timeline was already months behind. Jeff’s mother’s health had taken a dramatic downturn. I was still mourning the passing of my father the previous November. Not to mention in the two weeks prior, three ducklings and two chicks had died. I wasn’t in a place to take on caring for another animal that I had no idea how to take care of.
My first thought was, I don’t want to be responsible for killing Bambie. There is no way I’m going to be able to keep her alive.
Jeff assured me that he would take care of her. Monica and Carly, the mom and daughter who initially found her, brought her out to the farm that afternoon. Carly told us the story of how she found her being lead down the sidewalk on string by a few kids. She stopped to ask them where they had gotten the deer. The kids told her that they had found her and now she was their pet. Carly took the deer, went to find the mother, discovered that she had been killed by a car, and then took the deer home.
She was tiny and very wobbly. We guessed her to be about 2-3 days old. Monica and Carly brought with them goat milk replacer, a tiny bottle, and instructions that she needed to be fed every 2-3 hours. I called my nephew who is a zookeeper and works with hoof stock to ask him what to do. He recommended weighing her so we could monitor if she was able to gain weight. She weighed in at 6.5 pounds; most of that had to be her long legs.
Pearl on June 4th, 2020.
Jeff did his job of feeding her. She was so little and seemed to be exhausted, so that night I put her on the couch where she curled up like a cat. I fell asleep next to her. She didn’t move until the next morning when Jeff came down to feed her.
That morning we made a fenced-in space for her in my overgrown flower bed under a shade tree. She spent the day there. Joe and I would check on her occasionally. It was hot, but she wasn’t interested in water and she wouldn’t take the bottle from us. She hardly moved. I’m sure the trauma from the days before had taken a toll. I was amazed at how easily she blended into the tall grass. The white spots work like camouflage. I knew where she was and I still had a hard time finding her.
As soon as Jeff got home from work he fed her. She was starting to identify him as her mother/caretaker. That evening she walked around the yard a bit with Buck and Sydney, our dogs. Buck paid special attention to her solidifying himself as the best farm dog ever. He would follow her around, making sure she pooped and didn’t wander off. She would run a little then hide in the tall grass and Buck would follow marking where she laid down. That evening we named her Pearl after the author of the book The Good Earth. Buck and Sydney are also named after the same author.
The following morning, we were introducing her to a visitor and she spooked and ran. Just 2 days earlier she was so wobbly on her legs that she could barely walk, and now she could run remarkably fast! Her natural instincts to hide kicked in and she was gone. Buck and Sydney had been distracted and hadn’t seen where she went, and just like that she was gone. She had been in our possession for 36 hours and we had already lost her. Jeff, Joe, and I scoured the farm until dark. Jeff and I continued to look for her off and on all night, knowing that she was too little to fend off any sort of predator and that she needed to eat often. I messaged Ben, the zookeeper, and he thought the scent of milk would help. I also found a YouTube video of a mother deer calling for her fawn. I think I played it 500 times throughout the night hoping it would lure her back. Nothing worked. We barely slept.
By dawn we felt like we had covered every square inch of our property. I was resigned to the fact that she was gone. I was trying to rationalize that this was nature and she would probably survive on her own. Jeff on the other hand was not giving up. He was determined to find her. He headed back out to search while Joe and I talked in the kitchen, mapping out our plans for the day. Joe and I walked out the north door of the house towards the barn by the big pine tree. That’s when she came running out from the big animal’s pasture, bellering at us for food. Joe scooped her up and put her in the little pen while I ran to find Jeff.
Twenty-four hours was all it took for Pearl to capture our hearts. Over the past six months she has brought more sleepless nights, but also more happiness. Her antics and personality are very dog-like. She is playful, demanding of your attention, and very curious. There is something magical about a deer walking up to you. I once told Jeff that she was like the dolphin of the land. When we were on our sailing adventure, seeing dolphins swimming and playing in the ocean made you happy. Watching Pearl run and play with the other animals is like something out of a Disney movie. We both know that the day will come when she leaves to have her own family. In the meantime, we will enjoy her and our deeper understanding of this animal that is a part of our lives.
All of our animals have a story. We have given them a home to make sure that they live out their natural life in the most humane way possible.
