Loretta the Deer

A few weeks ago, I had the joy of making a new friend named "Loretta". 

She's no typical friend, however... she's a deer friend!

Loretta is the pet of an elderly man named Perry Sullivan who I met with my family while driving home from an apple orchard on Dayton Mountain in Tennessee. 

"Wooden's Apple Orchard", to be exact. The orchard is owned and operated by some of my distant family members. They have the best apple pies, fritters, slushies and cider! I love that place. I make a point to visit the orchard every year during the fall.

I saw Loretta crossing the road in front of the car while driving down the road and noticed that she was wearing a pink collar. The deer crossed the road and walked into Perry's yard, coming to a standstill beside him. She then began eating a watermelon that had been cut up and put on the ground.

Perry noticed our car on the road and saw my dad leaning out the window to take a photo with his Canon camera (which he makes sure to take everywhere he goes). That's when Mr. Sullivan invited us to come over and pet the deer he had raised from a very young age.

Loretta was a baby who had been abandoned by the side of the road after her mother had been injured and possibly killed by the traffic. The mother was nowhere to be found when Perry's family found Loretta. Perry's family let him know about the fawn and he soon decided to bring her into his home.

Perry raised Loretta on a bottle and she soon became healthy and strong, growing faster with each day. 

Mr. Sullivan even said that Loretta will watch television with him and eat cornbread! Amazing, in my opinion. Loretta thinks she's a dog! haha

Perry doesn't always have Loretta in his house though. In fact, she's always outside unless she wants to come in. She even has two babies of her own now! Perry has seen them from a distance, but Loretta hasn't brought them close just yet. She's a very protective mother, I suppose.

Here are a few photos my boyfriend and father took of the experience with Loretta...