Every year, Fuzzy Fawn Wildlife, a volunteer licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator in New York state, rescues dozens of abandoned white-tailed fawns and cares for them before releasing them back into the wild.
The white-tailed deer is New York’s most popular game animal and this species is found throughout the state.
One of these rescued white-tailed fawns is Nellie, a newborn baby deer.
When she arrived at the rescue, she was too young to be kept outside or with the other fawn already there. However, Fuzzy Fawn Wildlife knew that Nellie needed a companion.
Enter Polly, an adorable black and white bunny.
Polly was also a baby, only five weeks old, when she met Nellie.
Nellie immediately approached Polly and started licking her aggressively. However, Polly didn’t seem to mind. She continued following Nellie around.
The two baby animals lay down in the corner together, and it was evident that a new friendship was born.
“Nellie was the mother for Polly in the beginning. Even though she was only a couple of weeks old, it’s like she knew this little, fragile baby needed something,” Fuzzy Fawn Wildlife told the Dodo.
Even when it came to food, Nellie and Polly were taking cues from each other. At first, Nellie didn’t want to eat grain, the staple food for a rescued fawn.
When Polly started eating grain and Nellie saw her, the fawn started eating the grain as well.
Nellie was very energetic and jumped around more than she ran. Her rescuer is not sure if this was because of her inborn personality, or because she was Nellie hopping around.
The two animals seemed to have an understanding of each other. When Nellie was becoming very playful, jumping and running around, Polly would move to a corner and just look at her.
Polly stayed out of her way, even retreating inside a bowl of food while Nellie jumped around.
When Nellie was resting or napping, she would cuddle with Polly in a corner. Sometimes, Polly would even be lying down comfortably under Nellie.
While Polly understood that Nellie had times of being ultra-energetic, Nellie also understood that she had to be careful around Polly.
She was always cautious and aware of where Polly was when they were lying down or napping together, ensuring she didn’t hurt her.
After a while, Fuzzy Fawn Wildlife began bringing Nellie outside so she could get used to being outdoors.
She began spending time with other rescued fawns, TinkerBell and Buddy.
They would be released together into the wild the following spring.
The three fawns were learning from each other, becoming affectionate with each other, similar to how Nellie was with Polly.
As the fawns are getting ready for their future life in the wild, Polly is staying with the rescue long-term.
“I’m hoping Polly will remember all of this and when I get that first fawn in the spring, Polly’s going to know what to do again,” said Fuzzy Fawn Wildlife.
The friendship between Nellie and Polly is truly special and not something you see everyday.
We’re happy that the baby animals received the love and care they needed from each other. We’re also extra happy that we got to witness it for ourselves.
Watch the video of Nellie and Polly bonding together in the video below!
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