NathanA Sweet Bond
The first week that the fawn stayed, she was sleeping next to Sasnauskas’s bed on a shirt he gave her. The deer was attached to their shirt and could only fall asleep on it. Since he single-handedly saved her life, she was very attached to him and fit right in with her new family. She would constantly follow him and had to be attended all the time because of her fragile state.
Raising a Fawn
Sasnauskas was not so sure about raising a deer. “I had to do some Internet search and reading to be able to understand how to [raise] a fawn … get up at night to feed her every four hours, and clean her after,” Darius said. He made a splint for her to hopefully get her to walk properly. There was another thing that happened. She and the rest of other animals struck up a close friendship.
A Blossoming Bond
Soon, Mack the Bernese Mountain Dog became close to the fawn and would constantly lick her face. Mack very quickly took charge of the baby deer’s foster dad. Mack made sure the fawn ate well, was clean and even making sure that she did not run too far away. Within just a few days, the baby deer was walking normally and she had indeed recovered.
A Full Recovery
Sasnauskas was glad to see such a bond form between his animals. But he avoided naming her to keep the others from getting too attached. This was because he knew she would have to return to the wild eventually. Her herd would visit every day so he knew that she would have to join them again someday soon. He could never take the place of the deer’s real mother.
Failed Attempts
Sasnauskas would take the deer outside after seeing that she had made a full recovery. Since she belonged to the wild, he wanted her to get closer to nature and eventually join her herd. But, each time he tried to release her, she would find her way back as she felt safer in his care. She obviously was not ready to leave him or Mack behind just yet as they had been such blessings to her.
The Breakthrough
Sasnauskas took the deer outside once again after 2 weeks of caring for her. He was sure that the deer would get accustomed to the wild, the more he took her to it. As soon she saw her mother, she made a dash towards her. Since he had failed to let her go each time he tried, he was happy to see her be so excited to go to her herd.