By Mark Price
The Charlotte Observer
JACKSON COUNTY, N.C. — A trooper with the North Carolina Highway Patrol is winning hearts on social media for refusing to abandon a fawn that was born seconds after its mother was hit by a car in Jackson County.
The incident, first reported in the Sylva Herald, happened June 15, when a motorist hit and killed a full-grown deer in the Barker’s Creek area northwest of Sylva.
Trooper Rocky Deitz was called to the crash scene and discovered the impact of the collision had caused the doe to give birth. The fawn was lying in a ditch, it was reported. “I had to do something with it to give it a fair chance,’’ he was quoted as saying.
The trooper wrapped the newborn buck in a cloth and took it home, where his family has been tending it, including bottle feedings. They are also teaching it to walk, he told the newspaper.
Buckshot, as they named the baby, will be taken to a fawn rehabilitation center in Henderson County, it was reported. Keeping such animals as pets is illegal in North Carolina.
Coverage of the rescue has won praise for the trooper, with many thanking him for not leaving the newborn to die in a ditch.
“Good job Rocky Deitz!!! You have a heart just like your Mom!” posted Eloise Galloway on Facebook.
“One in a million, wonderful man!” said Shannon O’Donovan.
“That is awesome Rocky Dietz. I hope the baby makes it,” posted Darlene Marie Tiedge on the Sylva Herald’s Facebook page.
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©2017 The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)