Deer adopts Bolivia couple

BOLIVIA—There are enough deer in Brunswick County that occasionally people run into them with their cars, but how often does a man run into a deer on the way to his car?

Staff photos by Brian Slattery

A deer shows no signs of fear around Wayne Babson. The deer nuzzled up to Babson Thursday morning and has stayed close to the Bolivia family’s home ever since.

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Wayne Babson of Gilbert Road in Bolivia did while walking to his truck last Thursday around 6 a.m.

Babson said he saw what he thought was a dog wandering around his property. Then he got an up-close look at the animal.

“As I was getting in, I felt it touch my leg with its nose,” he said.

At about 3 feet tall, the deer might be a little less than a year old, Babson said.

He has seen deer wander into a pasture with cows and horses, and deer have run through the property before, but this is the first to stick around for a while.

He said once he got a look at it, he realized the deer could only stagger around.

It was weak but did not appear skittish.

“I called the wildlife service. They told me somebody might have been feeding it,” Babson said.

He was warned pinning up a wild animal is against the law, but was told he could feed the deer.

Babson said he left it alone, but it stayed close to his house the first day.

“I let it be all day (Thursday). I tried to feed it that night, then fed it twice (Friday),” he said.

Babson said Friday morning when he looked around his property, he found the deer went into an open garage and found a spot to spend the night.

Babson took a squirt bottle, filled it with milk and squirted it into the deer’s mouth. The deer responded. After a couple of milk feedings, the deer was walking with a little more balance by Friday afternoon and found a patch of clover to nibble in Babson’s yard.

“I figure she might have been around somebody,” he said. “If somebody has fed her, I wouldn’t mind if they came to get her.”

Babson planned to try feeding the deer chicken feed to move up from the bottle.

If he doesn’t hear from anyone who may have been feeding the deer, Babson said he would continue feeding the deer so it can gain some weight.

Babson and his wife, Martha, will let the deer wander around the property until it is healthy enough to head back to the woods.

“I hate to see any animal starve,” he said.

Brian Slattery is a staff writer for The Brunswick Beacon. Reach him at 754-6890 or bslattery@brunswickbeacon.com.