Stories of kindness toward animals are always appreciated. As humans, we have some responsibility to take care of the creatures that come to harm, mostly because of our presence. Roads, houses, cities, and suburbs are all new habitats that these animals are adapting to, and for many, it can be tough.
Luckily, the world is full of people who love to help the animals that aren’t able to help themselves.
These people usually take up work as a veterinarian or a shelter worker and spend hundreds of hours caring for all types of animals. The wonderful thing is that none of us have to go to formal school or get training to help animals in need!
One 10-year-old boy decided to help an animal in need.
In Illinois, a boy noticed that there was an animal who needed help. The creature in question was a blind deer. Noticing that the deer was struggling, the boy went out to help.
Deer are one of the most common animals in the US.
White-tailed deer are found in all of mainland US and love woods, grasslands, swamps, and pretty much anything else! The deer can be identified from other types of deer from this description:
White-tailed deer are the smallest members of the North American deer family. Adult white-tail deer have reddish-brown coats in summer. The color fades to a duller grayish-brown in winter. Male deer, called bucks, are easily distinguished in the summer and fall by their large set of antlers. New antlers are grown annually and fall off in the winter.
The deer that the boy found was a younger deer who was completely blind.
When the boy noticed that the deer was blind, he knew that he needed to take action. Going out every day before school, he finds the solitary deer and leads it a new patch of grass to graze on. In the concrete covered area, it can be hard for the deer to find suitable grazing areas without sight.
When the boy finds the deer, it leans against him and lets him lead it to the next spot for the day.
Relationships like this are pretty incredible and go to show the innocence that these animals really have. Have you ever heard of a deer who is willing to let a human approach and guide it? The entire situation is amazing and a sight to behold.
The family decided to call a rehabilitation facility in order to help the deer more than they could.
Local law prohibits treatment and feeding of wild deer and requires a professional. The family never fed the deer, just led it to new grazing spots so they never broke the law. When the rehab facility came to take the deer, it became a neighborhood event.
Turns out, the entire neighborhood had been helping the deer with whatever it needed!
When they heard the deer was going to go to a home where it could be safe, the entire neighborhood came out to say goodbye. They are the only people who are legally able to treat it, making the entire thing a bit bittersweet.
The poster of the story gave one final update on Reddit.
The final update is a bit long but worth the read.
An IDNR licensed wildlife rehabilitation group picked up the deer in a horse trailer a few hours ago. They’re the only people who are legally able to treat and shelter a deer in Illinois. Half the neighborhood came out to see it, including the young boy and his mom. I will follow up with the facility to see how the deer is doing soon.
For those of you who are upset about this boys feelings about the deer going away for licensed treatment: His concern was very mature. He had only been walking the deer for a few days and hadn’t named her or tried to claim her as a pet or anything like that. Neither did he shelter her indoors or leave food outside for her which is against the law in our state. He just wanted her to be ok and was relieved to know she would be safe.
When they took her away I spoke to some more people and it sounds like the rest of the neighborhood has been feeding her and guiding her away the road for almost a week now. The little boy was by far the sweetest example of helping and caring. He showed a lot of love and respect and my wife and I are going to talk to his mom about a way she would want to see his act of kindness rewarded. We are going to frame this photo for them and offer to take him to the local wildlife preserve whenever he wants to go.
TL/DR: Deer is safe. Boy is happy. Everyone is relieved. IRL karma for boy ASAP.
We can all care for the little bits of nature that remain in our suburbs.
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