Carrie Long, a qualified wildlife rehabilitator, received a call last year about a distressed newborn raccoon. He’d been abandoned by his mother at the age of three weeks and was discovered clinging to life during a rainstorm.
Long, whose group, Texas Fawn and Friends, specializes in saving orphaned deer, chose to take in the raccoon. Jasper was his name.”We weren’t sure he was going to make it,” Long admitted to The Dodo.Jasper lived because of Long’s generosity and care, and he’s now paying it forward.
Despite reaching adulthood and being free to venture out on his own, Jasper has chosen to remain a resident of Long’s deer refuge. He now joyfully shares the spacious territory with the 75 orphaned deer in Texas Fawn and Friends’ care — but one in particular has definitely captured his heart.
Hope is her name. She, too, lost her mother when she was a child. But Jasper makes certain she is never alone.Jasper lived because of Long’s generosity and care, and he’s now paying it forward.
“Jasper just loves her,” Long said. “When he sees her, he runs to lick and love on her. It’s just the cutest thing.”
Jasper and Hope are doing well. And everything is on their terms.
“He sees her every day,” said Long. “She comes in the evening and lays next to him. They’re having a great time together.”
Long expects to care for approximately 100 orphaned fawns this year, all of them would certainly perish if it weren’t for the dedication and hard work of Texas Fawn And Friends. Their lives aren’t only rescued there; they’re given a chance to thrive.Long would prefer it that way.
“It’s very rewarding work,” she explained.