So, true story. This happened a couple days ago and it was so cool I had to sketch up a thing in order to tell the story.

So, me, Spider there, was just minding my own business on my daily walk on the rural road I live on. It's very wooded and mountainous and beautiful, and I usually see some sort of wildlife on the way, especially in summer. I round a corner next to a clearing and see up ahead a pair of four-legged figures. One is a large, pretty doe, the other is a tiny little lanky Bambi fawn, not any bigger than a small dog. I'm thirty yards away so I stop and admire the beasties because I'm sure they're about to run into the forest from me.

The doe does run, and unfortunately she makes the mistake of doing so while her fawn isn't looking in her direction, but mine. The fawn, on turning back to where mom was seconds ago has the most confused look on their lil face. The fawn starts wandering back and forth in the little grassy area between road and woods. I approach, thinking surely this will spook the little deer into the cover right there where the doe headed, but as thirty yards, twenty yards, ten yards close in I realize the little fawn doesn't know to run away from me yet. I stop getting closer at this point but now the little Bambi look-alike has me in sight, and apparently decides I'm close enough to being a deer mom and walks right over. XD

So now I'm standing in a field, confused as hell and nervous about what to do next because there's this little tiny deer baby not a foot from me completely not afraid. And I try going around the fawn and walking past, but oh no, the fawn is following me around. Of course I know better than to try and "rescue" the fawn from abandonment, as a lot of human beings do when they find hiding fawns "by themselves" (whitetails in particular naturally leave their fawns hidden in thick brush, thickets, and tall grass to hide while mom forages between nursing times--the mom is usually never more than a good deer gallop away from the bebe), and plus I did see about where the mom got to.

There's a little gated path leading up into the woods from the side of this hill I'm next to, and while peeking back to make sure the fawn is tottering after me and keeping up I lead the teeny deer up into the woods. When I reach the gate area (which is next to some very tall grass and brush) I start to hear a sound of snorting and doe calling nearby but out of sight. Little fawns are smart, and communicating non-verbally with a number of non-human species is fairly easy if they're not scared and you know what to signal. I find a spot in the grass that's easy for deer to walk up to but not easy for anything in the road or forest to see something hiding in and then tamp down a little divot. When I back up and nudge the bebe Bambi forward to the divot, the little fawn seems to get it and gets right in and lays down, as little deers are supposed to do when they hide and wait on their moms. I check back and make sure the little beb is staying where they are, and scurry off down the road so that mama deer can feel safe enough to come in and pick up her lil 'un from accidental hoomen daycare. XD

And yes, I touched the fawn. Contrary to popular belief, such a thing that would leave a scent will not do anything ridiculous like causing the mom to abandon the babies. With deer, the absolute worst thing to do is snatch them up to a rescue because that's an accidental kidnapping of kid deers, but getting close to them will not affect how the doe sees, hears, and smells her fawn. Same with baby birds--if you find a baby bird that's not fledging near the ground and you can see and reach the nest, by all means put the little bird back into the nest. It's a serious underestimation of both the animals' intellect and the strength of parental instincts to think a faint, temporary whiff of human stank will immediately dissolve one of the strongest emotional bonds that exists. XD Plus, it means you get to check up on the bebs and make sure they're not actually extremely sick. I'm happy to say the little friendly Bambi was a very happy, healthy fawn with color in their cheeks and no sign of illness. Also--soooooooft and fuzzzzzyyyyy! 8D So tiny the lil thing could have been less than a week old.

So there's m' story of how Spider met some deers. And got really really dang close to one by mistake. And ended up babysitting for five minutes completely unintentionally. XD I was full of feels and fluff and worry and stuff. But I'm glad I got to do that.