Adorable Rocky The Fawn Gets A Fighting Chance At Life

Normally, Oklahomans are warned never to interact with wildlife, especially young fawns. Although they might look helpless tucked away in a random hidden area, it's common knowledge around here that mother deer purposely hide their fawns away while they graze.

In this case, Mother Nature's Loving Arms Wildlife Rescue wasn't called just because a baby deer was found alone. Instead, this particular fawn looked to be in terrible condition and truly in need of help.

For those who haven't heard about Rocky the fawn in Stillwater, Oklahoma, you're really in for a treat.

Rocky, the fawn, named after his resilience and will to thrive despite injuries.

On Thursday, June 12, representatives from the rescue were called about a baby deer found in the tall grass in the Nottingham Neighborhood located Southwest of Stillwater. According to the rescue, the concerned citizen thought that the fawn was in very rough shape.

"Not that he was abandoned, but his eyes looked really bad," they wrote.

The woman who initially found the fawn spent hours trying to catch the fawn, but they were able to successfully do so once the rescue and an officer from the Stillwater Animal Welfare came to help. Once he was caught, they took the fawn to their local veterinarian to see what could be done.

"The poor thing looked terrible and he was very scared," they said "He had wounds that looked like he had previously been attacked by something, and his eyes were covered in ticks and almost completely swollen shut."

Despite his terribly disheartening condition, rescue workers were still optimistic that they could get this fawn back to good health and hopefully back to the wild.

"We plan to return him to his momma once he recovers," they said.

They cleaned him, peeled the ticks from his eyes and started treatment prescribed by the veterinarinan.

Now, they're treating Rocky the fawn, as well as another fawn they've lovingly named Adrian until they're well and asking for help from the Oklahoma communities to provide special milk for the young deer.

"They will both be needing goat's milk and special care to thrive. I use pet wipes to potty all my animals, and Rocky will also be going through a lot of veterinarian visits, but we are committed to giving him the best chance at a happy life," they wrote.

To help Rocky and Adrian's recovery, reach out to the rescue through their website linked here.

Reminder not to jump to conclusions when finding baby animals alone.

Despite the fact that the rescue may be caring for multiple fawns currently, their cases are exceptions to the rule of wildlife. Generally, Oklahoma's Wildlife officials discourage people from assuming that a baby animal by itself is indeed need of rescuing.

According to Game Warden Brayden Hicks, based in Blaine County, Game Wardens often receive calls this time of year from the public asking them to “rescue” fawns that have been found alone.

“I tell them don’t touch the fawn, and don’t try to feed it. Normally the momma is around, and she’s left her fawn on purpose so she can go feed," he said.

This is generally the case for most young animals. If you do suspect that a wild animal truly does need help, like Rocky, it's important to contact Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation before trying to rescue the animal yourself.