A Mother's Love

Just before 8am, I head to the gas station located 2 miles away. On the way there, I see a deer running in circles in a panic on the side of the road. I slowed down. Suddenly a large, black Great Dane came running up with a baby fawn in its mouth. The dog and momma deer were fighting. Momma deer was hollering and kicking the dog. I immediately put my car in reverse and started honking my horn and yelling out the window. When I got closer, I opened the door and stood beside the car, still honking and yelling. A woman in an SUV pulled up and saw what was going on, so she joined me in honking and yelling. (The dog was in attack-mode, so we were both scared to approach it.)

Then suddenly, a guy on a dirt bike came flying up going full speed. He slid the bike to stop on the grass, dropped it, and ran to kick the dog. The dog dropped the fawn and ran away, but it stayed nearby pacing and waiting for us to leave. We all knew that as soon as we left, the dog would come back. The fawn was bleeding badly and could not walk. So I stayed by the fawn, the guy circled around us about 5 feet out yelling at the dog to stay away, and the other woman went home to get a blanket. Once she returned, we wrapped the fawn up tightly, and she took it to the vet.

The poor momma deer stood just a few feet away from us, hollering for her baby. I think she knew we were trying to help because she didn’t try to approach us. She just watched. Even as we all went our separate ways, she just stood there…lost and scared. I wish there was a way for us to tell her that we were taking care of her little one. But they will likely never see each other again. The strength and the fight that momma deer was putting up for her baby was incredible. It truly shows a momma’s love to put her life in jeopardy to save her baby.

The whole encounter was absolutely surreal. It was like watching an amazing video tv show. I wish I had caught it on video with my cell phone, but I was in the middle of it so I didn’t even think about it until afterwards.