Moose are meant for the wild. They’re massive animals that are territorial and aggressive when they feel threatened. But when they’re just young calves they’re helpless and entirely dependent on their mothers for protection and sustenance. But what happens when they are abandoned? Left to fend for themselves in the wild? Sometimes even they have guardian angels, and sometimes they become someone else’s guardian angel too.
Quiet Life
On the beautiful and serene Lithuanian countryside, Erikas Plucas lived on a farm. He enjoyed being away from the noisy city and relished in the comfort of the quiet countryside. Everything was picture perfect, albeit not too exciting , but that all changed when something he never expected to happen, happened.
Quiet Life
A Visitor
It seemed to be just another day when Plucas came back to his house. At the entrance to his home, at the front gate, was something that wasn’t usually there. A young, baby moose was lying on the ground, and although there were many moose in the area, something just didn’t seem right to Plucas. Unsure what to do, he approached the animal cautiously.
A Visitor
Practicing Caution
Before he got too close he suddenly realized that there was a great chance its mother would be in the vicinity. When an animal’s young is threatened, the mother can become very dangerous and cause serious harm to someone. So after taking a look around the area for the moose’s mother he understood that it was alone.
Practicing Caution
Assessing The Situation
Plucas didn’t know too much about this kind of animal, but he could immediately tell that the calf was very young and he concluded that she couldn’t have been older than two weeks. The calf looked distressed and inconsolable, and that’s when Plucas drew his own conclusions about what happened.
Assessing The Situation
Hiding From Hunters
It made sense that hunters had killed the moose’s mother and she ran to find protection. The calf landed up on the farm’s property and was too tired to continue. But even worse than just being tired was that she was also injured, and that’s what truly moved Plucas. He told The Dodo, “The first sight of her was heartbreaking.”
Hiding From Hunters
Still In Danger
Now that the moose had no-one to fend for her, Plucas made a bold decision. The moose wasn’t just injured, she was petrified, and even worse, she was still vulnerable. He decided that he was going to take care of her before any sort of predators reached her.
Still In Danger
Rescuing Her
The animal wasn’t sanitary or well, but that didn’t stop Plucas from acting on his intuition. “She was starved, dirty, sad, and her fur was infested with flies,” said Plucas. Without thinking much, he scooped her up and took her inside his house, but little did he know what he was getting himself into.
Rescuing Her
Some Friends
Plucas wasn’t sure what to do next, so he picked up the phone. First he called some friends to get some feedback from them, but the responses he received were not the ones he was expecting. His friends actually reacted negatively, questioning his decision. “It is illegal, you should not do it. Let nature take care of it,” were some remarks he received.
Some Friends
No Immediate Help
Next he found a phone number for animal services and waited impatiently for someone to answer his call. When someone eventually did answer they explained to him that they would not be able to help him until the next day. This meant that Plucas would have to care for this young animal until real help arrived. It scared him.
No Immediate Help
Making A Plan
Not knowing where to start, Plucas figured that the calf would need to eat so he went to get some milk and leaves for her. He also set up a makeshift home for her until Animal Services would take her the next day. But he wasn’t expecting what happened next.
Making A Plan
Thanks, But No Thanks
The next day was supposed to be the day that Animal Services would relieve Plucas of his duty. He couldn’t help but not feel relieved until they arrived to take the hurt calf. But then something unexpected happened, Animal Services told him that they couldn’t help him. But what was even worse was the solution they offered him.
Thanks But No Thanks
Turning To The Hunters
Animal Services told Plucas to place a call to local hunters, explaining that they would deal with the calf. Only Plucas understood what that meant, and he was mortified with the possibility of the animal getting into the hands of the people who had killed her mother. He knew that keeping the animal was illegal, but he didn’t want to hand her over to the hunters.
Turning To The Hunters
Fighting With Authorities
It wasn’t easy to argue with Animal Services, but Plucas was determined to care for the young moose. Eventually, after standing his ground, Plucas was given the green light to take care of the moose. At first he thought he would just nurse her back to health, but that soon changed.
Fighting With Authorities
Becoming A Dad
Being a nurse was only one part of the deal, soon Plucas felt like he was actually a father. He needed to think up a name for his newly-acquired “child”, and he decided on “Emma”. But naming her was the easy part, feeding her all the time and making sure that she was okay was the real challenge.
Becoming A Dad
Growing Close
With all the care that Plucas was giving to Emma, she started to feel safe around him. But it wasn’t just safety that she felt, she also felt a connection. Whenever he left the house she would cry for him to return, and he admits that he too felt a pang of missing whenever she wasn’t around.
Growing Close
Sleeping Arrangements
Since Emma didn’t feel safe anywhere without Plucas, he made a plan that some might think as strange. “She was afraid of everything but me,” said Plucas. Instead of leaving her alone outdoors or in the barn, Plucas started to sleep with her in the barn and sometimes even out in the open to give her a sense of security. But he needed a plan to help her adjust to her surroundings.
Sleeping Arrangements
Introducing Her To The Forest
Emma had suffered a traumatic event in the forest where she was born so it was difficult for her to return to it. But Plucas was determined to make her feel comfortable in her natural habitat, because she would some day have to go back. The first few times that they entered together Emma was completely petrified.
Introducing Her To The Forest
Her Guardian Angel
Slowly, after guiding her through the forest, Emma began to feel more at ease in the forest. Plucas showed her what was dangerous and what was safe, and she soon felt more comfortable. Plucas even led her in the search for food so that she would feel relaxed to eat in the forest. She was becoming more and more like a regular moose.
Her Guardian Angel
Emma The Explorer
With the reintroduction into the wild by Plucas, Emma began to venture out into wild without him. She explored the great outdoors with a new confidence now that she had grown up and had had Plucas’ support. But her venturing out became more than just a little adventure.
Emma The Explorer
Father Instincts
Emma began by going out for hours at a time without returning, but then returning before dark. But then one evening everything changed. Emma ventured out as she had been doing quite regularly, but this time something was different. The hours dragged by as night fell, but Plucas couldn’t see any sign of Emma. He began to worry – maybe she had gotten lost, maybe she had been attacked, maybe hunters had gotten her.
Father Instincts
Letting Go
Now that she was a fully-grown moose, Plucas knew that she could probably fend for herself, but that didn’t necessarily help him with the worrying. Plucas recalls those times vividly, “I remember those first nights she didn’t come home… Oh, I barely slept. But she grew up, I had to get over it. After all, it was my goal from the very beginning.”
Letting Go
The First Surprise
Just when Plucas was ready to accept that Emma had left and would be gone forever, she surprised him. But it wasn’t only once that she did so. Emma made it a daily occurrence that she visited her savior at his farm. Plucas was able to see that she had grown up, and she was definitely able to fend for herself now. So when she visited he made sure to make those moments count.
The First Surprise
Nurturing Their Bond
The two of them had a bond that not many people could understand. Each time Emma would pop back in to visit Plucas, they would swim together or play together. And of course, he was always ready with some snacks for her to munch on. The two of them were best friends, and nothing and no-one could change that.
Nurturing Their Bond
Their Bond
Plucas’ friends and family didn’t really understand the bond that the two shared but that didn’t matter to Plucas. In an interview with The Dodo, he said, “To me, she is gentle and loving. She is very careful when we are playing, so she would not hurt me.”
Their Bond
Still Looking Out
Even though Emma was an adult now, and they had a special connection, there was still danger for her. Emma was a fully-grown moose which meant that she was a target for hunters, and this greatly concerned Plucas. He felt that it was his duty to protect her from local hunters, so he came up with a plan.
Still Looking Out
His Risky Plan
Instead of giving up hope completely, or hoping for the best, Plucas did something most people would never have even considered an option. He called up local hunters and invited them all to his farm where they would get to meet his beloved Emma. He wasn’t sure what the meeting would bring but he was willing to do anything to protect her. “I had some hunters over for them to see her as not just a nice, warm steak with potatoes and vegetables on the table, but as a very intelligent and loving animal.”
His Risky Plan
A Surprising Response
Plucas wasn’t sure what to expect since he had always had a single picture in his mind of hunters since the first incident. The first hunters’ response took him completely by surprise. They agreed that they wouldn’t hunt Emma. They had ‘met’ her and they realized just how special she was to Plucas and that she had gone through a terrifying and traumatic experience when she was just a calf.
A Surprising Response
Overwhelming
But the surprising responses didn’t stop there. A number of the hunters were really touched by the story of Emma and Plucas, and they decided that they would stop hunting moose altogether. It seemed like nothing could get more exciting than that, but there was one more surprise to come.
Overwhelming
Emma’s Big Surprise
One day when Emma came to visit Plucas, he noticed that there was something different about her. She seemed to be a little bigger than usual. It took a few moments for Plucas to put two and two together, and then he realized that she was pregnant!
Emma’s Big Surprise
A Lesson
It was at that moment that it dawned on him – it was he who saved her life, it was he who granted her the opportunity to have a baby of her own. But then, in all the excitement, he thought about how much joy and love she had brought into his life, “I’m her world now and she is mine. Sometimes I wonder: was it me who saved her, or is it the other way around?” Sure, wild animals can end up teaching us about life, just like this fawn did for another man in the next story.
A Lesson
Something Odd
Like Erikas Plucas and his moose rescue, Lithuanian-born Darius Sasnauskus also came across something odd in nature. Sasnausksas lives right on top of Yellowstone National Park, so he was used to seeing wildlife up close and personal. However, one day while observing a family of deer, he saw something that troubled him.
Something Odd
Nature’s Cruel Reality
As Darius Sasnauskus looked on, he noticed that one of the fawn was trailing behind the other deer. Strangely, the fawn also had a bit of blood on its belly. Clearly, it was born that very day, but sadly, its front leg was injured. Thus, the baby deer couldn’t keep up with the other deer, and the rest of the herd left the fawn behind.
Nature’s Cruel Reality
Special Circumstances
Seeing the injured leg and considering all the predators living in the area, Sasnauskas realized this fawn did not have much of a chance of surviving. He explained in his caption on a video he posted about it, “I do not support keeping wild animals as…pets. But this was [a] special situation.”
Special Circumstances
Fast Friends
Thus, he made the bold move to take in the young female deer into his own home and treat her leg. Surprisingly, the fawn took to the home well and even didn’t mind the dogs and cat. However, the other animals were a little confused at first. Things quickly changed.
Fast Friends
Tough Adjustment
So, yes, she loved Sasnauskas’ other animals, but more importantly, this fawn was starving and very weak. Clearly, she needed immediate care. Just like with kittens or puppies, the very first week of life was difficult. This baby deer needed more than just food. Sasnauskas needed to provide some TLC, or tender loving care!
Tough Adjustment
Welcoming The Guest
Every few hours, Sasnauskas made sure to give the fawn food and keep her company. He made sure she was never alone or scared. Also, his pets seemed to warm up to this unexpected, strange guest. Everything seemed to be going well.
Welcoming The Guest
Bonding
During that first week, the baby deer actually slept right next to Sasnauskas’s very own bed on a T-shirt he set up for her. Actually, the fawn got so attached to his shirt, she needed it to fall asleep. At the time, Sasnauskas didn’t even realize, but he was a lifesaver.
Bonding
Growing Attached
However, the fawn seemed to understand what Sasnauskas was to her and how much he meant. Yes, she immediately grew attached to her adopted family. In fact, she trailed Sasnauskas all day like he was her own mother. At the time, she was still very weak, thus, he needed to always watch her closely.
Growing Attached
Doing Some Research
Even though Sasnauskas was an animal lover and raised dogs and cats, he was not clear on how one should care for a deer. While speaking with The Dodo, he explained, “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.”
Doing Some Research
A Sure Miracle
In order to help her injured leg, he created a special splint from an oatmeal box. With this splint, she slowly began walking and it was obvious her spirits were also lifted. More exciting and miraculous than her walking was the deep bond that would form between her and one of Sasnauskas’ family members…
A Sure Miracle
Unlikely Friends
After some time, the Bernese Mountain Dog named Mack became close with the fawn. He could not stop licking her cute little face! Clearly, his paternal instincts had kicked in. Days later, it was obvious he took on the role as foster dad for this baby deer.
Unlikely Friends
Road to Recovery
Even during feeding time, Mack would not give it a rest. He would clean the baby deer and watch out for her while they played outside. The dog would make sure the fawn didn’t stray too far. After just days, she was able to walk gracefully and felt a lot better.
Road To Recovery
The Dilemma
Although Sasnauskas was quite touched to see his dog Mack so closely bonded with the fawn, he didn’t want her to become too attached to Mack. Eventually, Mack wanted to let the fawn back into the wild. After all, that’s where she really belonged.
The Dilemma
The Plan
Typically, the fawn’s herd would return to the same area during the evenings. Thus, Sasnauskas wanted to release her back once she regained her strength fully. He hoped to set the dawn free to rejoin her true family, since no one could replace her actual mother.
The Plan
Rejoining Her Family
Right when the little fawn made her recovery, Sasnauskas decided to bring her outside during the evenings. He was hoping she would just rejoin her deer family as soon as she spotted them and enter the wild once again. After all, that was where she belonged.
Rejoining Her Family
Failure
Since the young fawn trusted Sasnauskas and was so used to him, she would always come back to him every time he would set her free. This baby deer clearly wasn’t ready to abandon the man who saved her or her new friend Mack the dog!
Failure
Trying Again
Then something amazing happened one evening. It was just two weeks or so since Sasnauskas took in the fawn. He had brought her outside to play and get accustomed to the wild again. Perhaps, with more time every night in the forest, he could get her used to it. Well, he got more than he bargained for that night!
Trying Again
Beautiful Reunion
While they were playing outside, the baby deer spotted her own mother in the forest bushes! Much to Sasnauskas’ surprise, the fawn leapt up and darted at the herd. This made him overjoyed to watch her run into the forest since he was nervous the fawn had grown too attached to him.
Beautiful Reunion
Successful Rehabilitation
This was a huge moment for Sasnauskas. While he watched the baby deer run towards her mom, he felt his work here was complete. Yes, he actually managed to rehabilitate a wild fawn, despite not believing that humans should bring wild animals into domestic spaces.
Successful Rehabilitation
Not The End
Even though the fawn had bonded with him, nature’s instincts kicked in when she saw her mother once again. Although Sasnauskas was overjoyed to watch this beautiful reunion, he never realized that the satisfaction would flood back to him yet again months after!
Not The End
An Important Message
While speaking with The Dodo, Sasnauskas explained, “I really hoped that she did not get attached to me too much because that would make [it] very hard for her to survive in the wild.” Although others might disagree with him, he did bring up a crucial point.
An Important Message
Chances Of Survival
However, Sasnauskas and even his dog Mack were not able to teach the fawn how she could defend herself from hunters and wild predators. Thus, the sooner this fawn returned to the wild, the higher her own chances of survival would be! Sasnauskas knew that her best chances of safety would be amongst her family. However, all of this was far from over…
Chances Of Survival
Safe Zone
During the fall, the deer herd often wandered about the area and often stayed close to the fence, since it was the safest zone. After she left, Sasnauskas never expected to see her again. He thought she would grow up, and eventually, he wouldn’t be able to discern the difference her and the other deer.
Safe Zone
Unexpected Visitors
Actually, Sasnuaskas was wrong in his presumption about never seeing the deer again. Just months after, he spotted her leaping through the forest, full speed, with her family. He felt another sense of confirmation that his actions were justified.
Unexpected Visitors
Internet Sensation
While Sasnauskas helped the injured fawn, he recorded the journey and posted it on the internet for anyone to watch. People were immediately hooked and loved his selfless nature. Thus, he became an internet sensation. Everyone loved watching how well the baby deer got along with not just Sasnauskas, but also his pets.
Internet Sensation
Expressing Gratitude
It wasn’t only that Sasnauskas demonstrated the importance and benefits of wildlife rehabilitation, but he also felt gratified that he saved an animal’s life. Not to mention, he enjoyed a lot of positive attention. In a post he wrote, “I didn’t expect this story to become so popular. I am sure that any of us with a little bit of a conscience about our existence, with love for the nature and animals would do the same.”
Expressing Gratitude
Lesson For Others
On Sasnauskas’ personal YouTube channel, he shares his personal knowledge of wildlife with viewers. For the fawn rescue story, he posted a video demonstrating how he bathed the little fawn.
Lesson For Others
Taking On The Role Of Mother Doe
In his caption, Darius Sasnauskas wrote, “until few weeks old, fawn needs help to get cleaned and get help to go to bathroom, and that’s what usually mother doe does, but in this case I had to do it.”
Taking On The Role Of Mother Doe
Feeding Deer
Then, he also showed how he often woke in the middle of the night just to feed the fawn. I mean, he was taking on the role of the fawn’s own mother deer. If she were in the wild, her mother doe would perform all these tasks.
Feeding Deer
Perfect Fit
During his video, he wakes up at 2AM to feed the young fawn from his own bed. Actually, the bottle he used initially was too big, thus, he bought a baby bottle from his pharmacy. Turns out, it worked perfectly!
Perfect Fit
Something Strange
If you think finding a moose or one fawn is alarming, you are not prepared for what Tom Satre and his family confronted on cold October day in the waters of Taku Inlet. Taku Inlet is less than 10 miles from Juneau, Alaska. Anyway, Tom Satre is captain of a 62 foot charter boat. He was out on the boat with his family, enjoying their Sunday when they saw something rather strange in the distance.
Something Strange
In The Distance
On the boat was Tom Satre’s sister, Sharon Kelly, and his brother, Tim, along with Tom’s daughter Anna. While they motored across the water, Anna kept staring into her binoculars. Then, she saw that really odd thing in the distance.
In The Distance
Swimming Herd
Soon enough, the boat got close enough to make it out. The family imagined it would be birds or possibly a group of sea lions. Yet, what they came across was not what they expected. They spotted ears…then they got closer, and they realized it was a herd of deer in the water!
Swimming Herd
In Need Of Assistance
The entire boat was completely shocked to see four deer swimming towards them. Thus, they stopped the boat. The four Sitka black-tailed deer swam at them. Tom Satre recalled, “They swam right toward the boat…then, they started to circle the boat. They were looking up and looked like they needed help.”
In Need Of Assistance
Freezing Waters
Obviously, these deer needed help getting out of those freezing Alaskan waters! Satre noted he never saw such distressed deer. He even said the deer were visibly “foaming at the mouth,” and could barely keep their heads above water. Yet, how would Tom and his family get them aboard?
Freezing Waters
Pulling Them Up
A pro outdoors-man, Tom could tell that the deer must be young because their antlers had barely grown in. In order to pull them onto the boat, he made a lasso out of a rope. Tom then fastened it to each deer’s neck. Then the entire family worked together to pull all four deer onto the back of their boat.
Pulling Them Up
Totally Exhausted
The poor deer! Usually, wild deer will become very skittish and nervous around people. However, these deer boarded the boat willingly. No, they were not acting sporadically. These deer just collapsed from exhaustion once they got onto the boat.
Totally Exhausted
Relieved
Tom’s sister Sharon said once they got onto the ship, “they couldn’t stand up on their own…they couldn’t shake the water off their coats.” Sharon also said the deer “didn’t want to touch them, but it was clear they were happy to be there. They probably would have crawled on board if they could have.”
Relieved
Getting Them Home
Quickly, the boat sped towards land, and the deer perked up. With the sunlight warming them, they seemed to come to life again. Alas, one of them stood while the others continued to rest and regain energy. All of them looked so happy to be saved.
Getting Them Home
Just A Little Encouragement
Once the boat got to the dock, one jumped right onto the dock! Then he jumped straight into the water before swimming to shore. He darted into the woods. The next deer followed in his lead after the Satres gave a bit of encouragement. However, the final and fourth deer had trouble.
Just A Little Encouragement
One More
Tom Satre spoke about the final deer, saying, “The last one was in real trouble…I think he was the biggest of the four. He couldn’t get the water off him. I massaged him, he was shaking and was very hypothermic, I think.”
One More
Bringing Him To Safety
Sadly, the final deer simply could not walk on his own after reaching the shore. Thus, the Satres put him in a wheelbarrow and wheeled him to safety. They also let him have some time to warm up, watching him become more alert. Then they assisted him so he could stand. Finally, the deer wobbled back into the woods to reunite with his family.
Bringing Him To Safety
What Next?
Expert Riley Woodford, employed by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, spoke about the incident. Woodford explained that these deer may have fled predators and escaped into the water. Perhaps, he theorized, they were driven from their community by natural “adolescent dispersal” or even in order to look for food.
What Next?
Warning
However, Woodford wanted to warn that deer usually are “able to ramp up body heat…Like in the winter, they’ll just ramp up their metabolism. A deer could, however, just become completely exhausted.” Also only in these very extreme situations should wild animals be rescued. In general, it’s very dangerous for people attempting to rescue and also a danger to the animals.
Warning