The story of Fawnzie began with a misheard conversation over a loud air conditioner. Dad and I had just returned from a walk and wanted to tell Mom and Asa about our new neighbor. However, it was difficult to hear over the drone of the AC, and Mom had the classic TV show “Happy Days” on her mind because Asa was watching the oldies television station. So she thought Dad said something about “Fonzie,” the character played by Henry Winkler. Little did she realize though Fawnzie would be an excellent name of our little daredevil deer.

Dad and I first spotted Fawnzie playing in the middle of the road with a pine cone. The fawn was happily tossing it up in the air and catching it. Which I do admit somewhat impressed me, as I wondered if deer liked playing fetch too. Dad was more focused though on the young deer’s strange behavior. Never in all our years have we seen a deer playing in the open road, ignoring his mother’s grunts, and more shockingly oblivious to us approaching. Dad slowed our paced, stopped, waved his arms, while making some loud noises waiting for the fawn to run off. But he didn’t. We could hear and see Momma Deer getting more and more concerned about her baby’s safety, as she grunted louder and stomped her hooves, while remaining in the safety of the tree line. Finally though, her mother’s instincts kicked in, and she bravely ran between us, who were a safe distance away, and her precious fawn. Fawnzie misinterpreted this action as Momma Deer wanting to play, and happily chased her into the woods. We had dismissed this event as a young deer not yet street savvy, who learned a valuable lesson that day.

However, a couple weeks later Fawnzie was spotted again. This time with a case of the zoomies as he ran around our backyard, zipping here and there without a care in the world. I started barking from the window, but once again he didn’t respond how a normal deer would. He wasn’t afraid. He didn’t freeze in his steps because he was spotted. He didn’t run for safety. No, instead Fawnzie did the exact opposite, and ran toward my barking! It actually looked like he was trying to figure out how to get inside the fenced in area of our yard, so as to get a closer look at me in the window! After attempting to snap a photo of the rambunctious fawn, my Mom scanned the tree line searching for Momma Deer. Once again Momma Deer peered out wild-eyed with worry for her fearless fawn. Mom also spotted a second deer and a fawn nervously watching with her from the bushes. This time Fawnzie raced back into the woods faster than the original Fonzie ever could on his motorcycle, and we watched as his mother and the other two deer chased after him to safety.

I have no idea where the story of Fawnzie will lead. But I am truly interested in what’s next for our daredevil deer!