Jilly's Legacy

With just a few days left to fund this very special project, we wanted to thank you for your gift.

The private fenced enclosure known as "Jilly's Legacy" has been used by seven fawns for the last month, and three more will join this little family in the weeks to come.

The little deer show no sign of the injuries and emaciation that brought them to us, but are healthy and strong and--thanks to you--enjoying the sun in a spacious enclosure that lets them run and jump and play.

The baby bucks are starting to show 'nubs' where antlers will grow for the first time this fall.  With the exception of providing food and water, the fawns are no longer exposed to human activity or sounds, but live in the company of birds and squirrels and rabbits--the only sounds they hear are the wind through the leaves and the song of red-winged blackbirds and robins.

Three more babies are still at the hospital in care, including a very late baby doe, who is still being bottle-fed, a younger fawn who suffered head trauma and is not as wary as she should be, and an older fawn who was hit by a car and suffered severe nerve damage to all four legs.

We are hopeful that we will be able to reunite the last three babies with the rest of their family in the next few weeks so that they can enjoy the winter months together in safety and peace.

The fawns will winter in the fenced enclosure, protected from predators, hunters and winter weather while they continue to grow and learn the behaviors that will help them survive in the wild.  Although we can't give them back their moms, at least they have each other for company and support when the doors to the habitat will swing open next spring and invite them to venture out into their wild home.

Thank you for the gift that is giving Winter Rest to these babies and will continue to give a gift as "Jilly's Legacy" in the years to come.

Jilly was found near death, cold to point where only warm intravenous fluids over 48 hours brought her body back to normal temperature--emaciated, she was too weak to stand or suckle, so we fed her by stomach tube for several days.  We celebrated every milestone, every morning she was still alive.  When she finally took a bottle on her own, it was the best day ever.

If Fellow Mortals had been unable to help Jilly, she would have died.  Instead, she grew strong and was given a new family where hers had been lost.

Fellow Mortals provided care for deer from 1989 to 2003, when a policy change by our state agency made it illegal for us to help.  As part of an advisory group to the Wisconsin DNR, I helped to create a policy that would allow licensed wildlife rehabilitators to again care for injured and orphaned fawns.

Fellow Mortals is just one of a handful of facilities equipped and willing to take on the financial burden of rehabilitating injured and orphaned deer.  It is an expensive endeavor.  The cost to rehabilitate one fawn to release is $1,000.

We want to help all the deer who need us, but we need your help.

Your previous gifts to Fellow Mortals through Global Giving have provided medicine, specialized formulas, housing for education birds, food and care that have benefitted thousands of wild creatures, as well as the caring people who found them, but didn't have the funds to help with the cost of care.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, July 15, your gift to Jilly's Legacy to help other injured and orphaned fawn will be matched by 50%.  You've done so much already--but please consider a special gift, for a very special purpose, to "Jilly's Legacy."

http://www.globalgiving.org/microprojects/give-life-to-a-baby-deer/

With sincere appreciation for all you have made possible,

In tribute to Jilly.

Links:

• Give Life to a Baby Deer