If you've ever seen a moose in the wild, you know they can be quite intimidating creatures. They can grow to enormous sizes, are incredibly strong, and don't take too kindly to being approached by humans. However, if you're lucky, sometimes animals in need will react kindly to the help, just like this lucky moose did...
A Great Day For A Hike
Erikas Plucas, a native to Lithuania, lived on a farm situated around vast woodlands. He was an outdoorsman at heart and enjoyed long, peaceful hikes near his home. He often spotted wildlife but knew to leave them alone...
An Unexpected Guest
After a walk, Plucas came home to see a small baby moose lying at his gate. It was completely still, watching Plucas's every move. It made no attempt to run away, which he thought was odd. Something was definitely wrong...
An Abandoned Calf
When Plucas realized the calf was all alone, with no mother in sight, he knew he had to do something. He carefully approached it, quietly so he wouldn't scare it. He got close enough to take a good look and realized this little female calf was probably no more than two weeks old. Something bad must have happened if it was this young and lost from its mother...
Open Season
Plucas figured the calf's mother must have been killed by hunters because it was Lithuania's open season. It was likely that the hunt had occurred nearby, and the calf ran onto his property to escape. A baby moose isn't as valuable to hunters as an adult is, so they let her go, but she appeared to have been injured. Now he knew he really had to step in...
A Time-Sensitive Mission
The calf started trembling as Plucas got closer. Her fur was covered in flies, she was dirty, and her eyes were sad and scared. She was too weak to run away, so Plucas went out on a limb and picked up the calf and carried her inside. She barely struggled, which seemed like a bad sign...
A Call To Animal Control
Once he got the calf inside, Plucas immediately called Animal Control. However, they couldn't get to him until the next day, so he knew he had to take care of the calf on his own for the time being. He decided to call his friends and ask for advice, but he was met with unexpected criticism...
"Let Nature Handle It"
When Plucas explained the situation, his nature-savvy friends criticized him for taking the calf inside. "You should have let nature take care of this. It's illegal, what you're doing." However, he knew he couldn't just abandon her. So, despite the comments, he decided to gather food for the calf and see if she would eat...
A Chance At a New Life
With permission from Animal Control, Plucas decided he was going to keep the calf on his farm and raise her. He named her Emma, and with constant care, she was back to her normal self in a matter of weeks. It was as if the traumatic events of losing her mother had never happened. She lived a happy life on the farm...
Attached at the Hip
Plucas was dedicated to caring for Emma, and she quickly became very attached to him. She was needy and would cry if he left her outside alone. Eventually, he started sleeping next to her in the barn or in the field so she knew she was safe...
A Reintroduction
When Emma was older, Plucas decided it was time for her to go home. He knew reintroducing a domesticated animal back into the wild after a long time with humans would be difficult, so he started the process slowly. The two went on frequent walks through the woods where he was sure she used to live, but they always returned to the farm after...
Growing Fast
Once Emma was fully grown, she was far more comfortable in the wild. Soon, she'd take walks on her own and wouldn't return for hours. Though she still preferred the comfort of the farm, her curiosity tended to get the best of her and she would enjoy herself exploring. Eventually, she stopped coming home...
A Permanent Bond
Even though Emma lived in the wild from now on, she somehow never forgot the bond she had with Plucas. She would frequently come back to visit, sometimes stopping by the farm every day to make sure he was okay. He felt like an empty-nester without her, but he was always thrilled to see her walking by...
There Was a Catch
The only problem with Emma roaming free in the wild was that she felt connected to only one human, and didn't care for any others. If she encountered a person in the woods who wasn't Plucas, there was no telling how she'd react. He had to come up with a plan so she wouldn't interact with any hunters...
Anything To Keep Her Safe
Though Plucas was happy Emma was happy in the wilderness, he was worried about her safety. He planned on inviting the local hunters out for a walk so they could meet Emma and see that she was harmless. He prayed his idea would work and he could sleep at night knowing Emma was safe...
A Change of Heart
After watching Plucas and Emma interact, the hunters actually decied to put down their weapons completley, not just for her. Plucas couldn't believe his luck. While some agreed not to hunt Emma, and others agreed to leave all moose alone, some promised to stop hunting altogether...
Going Through Changes
As winter approached, Plucas noticed Emma's stomach had started to grow. She was pregnant! He was finally reassured that she was doing okay on her own, and soon she'd have a family. He was overjoyed with how far she'd come from the scared little calf he once knew...
Other Animals Aren't So Lucky
Another man, also from Lithuania, Darius Sasnauskas, lived direclty behind Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. One day, he noticed a small family of deer in his backyard behaving very strangely. Luckily, he decided to investigate...
A Newborn Fawn in Trouble
One of the smaller fawns was walking with a limp, and there was still some blood on its belly, which meant it was likely only a couple hours old. He knew the fawn didn't stand a chance against predators if it could barely walk, and he watched as the rest of its herd left it behind. Though he didn't approve of keeping wild animals as pets, he had to think fast...
Getting Comfortable
Sasnauska decided to bring the fawn home where she'd be safe until she was strong enough to return to the wild. She took a liking to his pets pretty quickly, and she needed attention immediately because she was so young. This seemed like a perfect situation, and he watched as she bonded with his dogs like she'd bond with her mother, if she hadn't been abandoned...
Fast Friends
The fawn loved sleeping in Sasnauska's bed on an old t-shirt. She became so attached to it that it felt like a security blanket, and she wouldn't sleep anywhere without it. The bond they quickly shared was unlike anything Sasnauska had ever witnessed before...
How To Care For 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,” Sasnauska said. Caring for the little deer was different than keeping a cat or a dog as a pet. He also fashioned a makeshift splint for her injured leg, and slowly she began to walk normally...
More New Friends
Mack the Bernese Mountain Dog quickly became the fawn's best friend. His paternal instincts kicked in and he easily cared for the fawn when Sasnauska was busy. The two were inseparable, and he wondered how his dog would react when it was inevitably time to say goodbye to the fawn...
Good As New
Sadly, though the fawn bonded with all his pets, Sasnauska didn't name her so he didn't become too attached. They'd all have to say goodbye to her eventually because there was no way she could live in his house forever. She wouldn't be happy, even if his other pets were...
She Wasn't Getting the Message
Sasnauska tried taking the fawn out for walks close to the woods at night, hoping that when she saw another herd of deer, she would take off and go back to where she belonged. However, the bond she felt with him was too strong, and she didn't make any attempts to leave. He worried that this might lead to a problem...
A Miracle
One evening during their routine walks, the fawn actually spotted her own herd. Sasnauskas thought it was a miraculous twist of fate because she leaped into the air and ran after them. He was so happy she finally felt brave enough to go home, because he was worried she'd grown too attached to her life with humans...
The Importance of Wildlife Rehabilitation
Though Sasnauskas didn't believe in keeping wild animals as pets, he did understand that every circumstance is different. Even though the fawn grew close to him, her natural instincts kicked in and she eagerly rejoined her herd when she saw them. All of Sasnauskas's fears had been for nothing...
The Risk of Attachment
“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,” Sasnauskas said. He knew that he and his pets, even though they loved her, couldn't teach her how to protect herself from predators the way other deer could. However, there was still another twist in store for this fawn...
Frequent Visits
The herd tended to visit Sasnauskas's house frequently, grazing in the fields nearby. He knew which fawn was his, even as she grew up. As she got bigger, it was obvious that he'd done a job well done. She walked perfectly and played with the other deer in her herd. She didn't seem to miss her life in domesticity...
A Trending Story
The Internet reacted very positively to the heartwarming story Sasnauskas shared. People loved how the deer got along with his other pets. “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 nature and animals would do the same," he said.
Teaching By Example
Sasnauskas also has a YouTube channel that he uses to teach others about wildlife rehabilitation. He filmed much of his time caring for the fawn, and he talks through various steps that need to be taken when helping injured animals. Since the story broke, his channel has picked up lots of speed...
How To Feed A Deer
Sasnauskas explained the amount of attention a newborn fawn needs. He woke up every four hours to feed her and demonstrated the proper amount of food a baby required. Caring for a newborn animal is nearly as tireless as caring for a newborn human!
One Year Later
A year after the fawn's rescue, Sasnauskas ran into her in the fields by his house again and decided to film the encounter. She was around 11 months old at the time, yet she still recognized him immediately. A bond like that just doesn't break!