Man saves baby deer’s life, and she refuses to leave him

When a Lithuanian outdoorsman discovered an injured fawn that’d been abandoned in his backyard near Yellowstone National Park, he decided to help nurse it back to health.

Although Darius Sasnauskas doesn’t support the idea of keeping wild animals as pets, he knew that if he didn’t step in to help the baby deer, its fate would be grim. So he documented his efforts.

“With so many predators around, she had no chance to survive on her own,” he writes in the YouTube video’s description.

So, using a brace made from an oatmeal box, Sasnauskas helped nurse the tiny animal back to health. He fed it every four hours and even got help from his dog, who showed affection by licking the fawn’s face and body. The fawn soon made herself at home amongst the other dogs and cats of the house, following them around and even cozying up to the dogs.

All that tender, loving care paid off and the fawn learned how to walk on its own. However, it didn’t want to leave Sasnauskas’ side, as he attempted to release her back into the wild.

“She’s already used to me, and she follows me…but nobody can replace her real mom,” he says.

Sasnauskas was finally able to successfully release the little deer back to her mother, who showed up in his lawn one evening. He spotted the family again a few months later hopping through his backyard. The baby deer was much larger and even more energetic. Sasnauskas ends his video by wishing his little friend the best: Be safe baby deer!