WILLIAMS, Ariz. - The baby deer rescued from the Goodwin Fire were settling into their new home pretty well Tuesday and bonding with visitors.
Monday night was the first time the four fawns got to spend with the rest of the animals at the Grand Canyon Deer Farm and some junior zookeepers got to meet them up close.
Patricia George, a co-owner of the farm, said the deer were doing great -- playing, eating and sleeping after their move. She said the fawns didn’t mind the extra space or their new roommate -- the farm’s Anatolian Shepherd guard dog, Turk.
“They took over Turk’s house,” George said.
The four have quite a following on social media -- where George keeps their fans updated, but they weren’t very popular with the soon-to-be moms in the main herd at the farm.
“Our does are getting so close to having their own fawns that they get really protective and they kind of chased the little girl off, so we decided it wasn’t safe to put them in there," George said. "So, we have to think of their safety first."
Animal protection is important to junior zookeepers Tirel and Kory Jackson. The animal lovers said their dad had planned their visit to the farm a year earlier.
“It’s really cool,” Kory Jackson said.
The chance to be the first junior zookeepers to feed these little ones was icing on the cake.
“That was really fun because I’ve never experienced that before,” Tirel Jackson said.
There was one major coincidence -- the Jacksons' dad was a firefighter and the fawns were alive thanks to firefighters and Tuesday, whether by chance or fate, they all came together to form a bond and memories they would cherish for life.
If you ever come here to see them, never, never take them for granted because they’re really amazing creatures,” Kory Jackson said.
The fawns are expected to join the rest of the herd at the farm by the end of August.