Residents Concerned About Doe Living On Dead-End Street In Fair Oaks: 'I Want Her Safe'
FAIR OAKS (CBS13) — A young doe has been living at the end of a dead-end street in Fair Oaks for weeks. Now there's concern she could be in danger if she tries to leave on her own.
For the past three weeks, people living in a Fair Oaks apartment complex say the doe has made itself at home, and word is getting out. Resident Craig Genovese said many people are coming by to catch a glimpse.
"I've been here 34 years and there's never been a deer here," Norma Sherwood said. "She's very friendly, she comes right up to you."
Sherwood is concerned the deer is cornered in the dead-end street. The only way out is to cross busy San Juan Avenue.
"It's heavy traffic and I'm afraid she's gonna get hit," Sherwood said. "I'd like to get her relocated up in the foothills or something"
She says she has called the county, but so far nothing has been done.
"Animal control's been out twice, they say they don't relocate," Sherwood said. "They say she's free to go where she wants like a cat."
Several residents are now feeding the young deer to try and keep her healthy. Sherwood says she gives the doe apples and trail mix. But feeding deer and other wildlife is illegal in California. The Department of Fish and Wildlife says it disrupts the animal's normal behavior patterns so it no longer needs to forage for itself.
Sherwood says leaving out food is better than the deer trying to cross traffic.
"That's the only thing that's going to keep her safe and off the highway, so if I break the law, I break the law," Sherwood said. "I want her safe, that's my main goal"
She is now reaching out to local animal rescue groups in the hopes they will help get the deer back to its natural habitat.
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