Please slow for neighborhood ‘Sweethearts’

One Southeast Neighbor asks drivers on Fox Hollow to watch out for an injured doe.

Linda Duggan: I’m helping a friend with his property get it prepared for fire, taking out limbs, and we went in the backyard and here is this young, I think probably a yearling doe. I named her ‘Sweetheart’ because I kept calling her, ‘Here, Sweetheart. it’s okay,’ and she let me get pretty close. I don’t like to go close enough that it freaks them out, but at first I couldn’t see that there that she was injured, but then I noticed that she has an injured back leg. It’s quite swollen. It looks like might be infected. I don’t know exactly, but I got some pictures of her pretty close up and then she went through this portal in the fence. I think she has been living there for a long time because the property has been vacant for several years and it’s her little safe place.

We have a friend who lives like two doors down and he saw her go across Fox Hollow.

John Q. Murray: Linda observed and evaluated the doe’s condition, and started learning what resources might be available to help one of her most vulnerable neighbors.

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Linda Duggan: There’s lots of foods she was eating. So I felt good about that. She ate a lot. She gets around on the three legs. But I did some research and first of all, found out that they often heal on their own. So that might be what we do. Second of all, that deer actually have a higher endorphin percentage than humans. So they don’t feel as much pain cause she didn’t act like she was really hurting that much.

So I did a lot of research online and I knew that if we called U.S. Forest Service and Wildlife, that they would probably euthanize her and that’s not what I want to happen. Only if an animal really needs it, but I don’t think she does. That she’s still eating and getting around that’s a positive sign. Looked up and we don’t really have any local resources in Eugene. And I knew from past experience with some other wild animals that vets will not work on them, but it’s also illegal for them to, they’re not supposed to work on any wild wildlife.

So I did call our vet and found out that there is a sanctuary in Corvallis for deer. Chintimini , C H I N T I M I N I wildlife center in Corvallis.

So I have not called them yet. The the challenge is going to be having Sweetheart be somewhere when I call for help that they can find her. But our friend who lives two houses down saw her cross the road. And then another friend who’s helping with this project. On the vacant house, he went over and he saw her in the backyard again. So we know that’s one of her go-to places for sure. Anyways, she is a Sweetheart. Maybe she’ll just get better on her own, but, I want us to be watching out for her.

John Q. Murray: So on Fox Hollow and all our streets, keep an eye out for Sweetheart and other neighbors who may be moving a little bit slower.