An orphan baby deer injured when it was hit by a car is being nursed back to health this Christmas – in an animal lover’s spare room.
Tiny fawn Newbie, a Muntjac kid, was rescued by a van driver who spotted her in the middle of the road with blood coming from her nose.
Fortunately the week-old deer escaped serious injury but Emma Hickey, who works at Oak and Furrows Wildlife Rescue Centre, in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, took pity on the fawn and brought her home for Christmas.
She is likely to be released into the wild after Christmas and the only time she is handled is when she is fed at Miss Hickey’s house near Swindon, Wiltshire.
Animal lover Emma Hickey looks after the injured fawn in a spare room near Swindon, Wiltshire
The fawn, Newbie, was found in the middle of the road by a van driver after being hit by a car
Miss Hickey, 20, said: ‘Lots of cars were going past her and there was this lovely guy who stopped and picked her up.
‘She was in shock. I don’t think she had a very good chance being left out there on her own without her mother.’
The fawn was separated from her mother when the van driver found her.
He put her under the cover of a hedge but she wouldn’t move and eventually he put her in his van and called for help.
Miss Hickey is keen to stop Newbie from becoming domesticated by keeping human contact to a minimum, fighting the urge to pet her.
‘We like to keep a barrier from her to stop her getting tame,’ Miss Hickey said. ‘She will have to be released into the wild eventually so we don’t want her to get domesticated.
‘It is hard not to pet her – you have got to think “we are trying to give her a second chance.”‘
Feeding her a diet of chopped vegetables, with three bottles a day containing cow’s milk, cod liver oil and an egg, Miss Hickey is keen to make sure Newbie doesn’t become domesticated
After the Christmas season has ended Newbie will be taken to live at Miss Hickey’s workplace where there is an empty deer pen.
At the moment while Newbie lives at home with Miss Hickey she is in isolation from her other animals – ten chickens, two cats, six rabbits and a tortoise.
She said: ‘The room is empty but she’s got blankets and bed sheets and there is straw on the floor.
‘Every day I go out and pick her brambles, ivy and clumps of grass. The room is like a deer pen.’
Newbie is fed a diet of chopped vegetables, with three bottles a day containing cow’s milk, cod liver oil and an egg.
This isn’t the first time animal lover Miss Hickey has taken in wild animals – last winter she hand-reared two fawns in her bathroom.
The little fawn will be released back into the wild after the winter period. She is kept isolated from Miss Hickey’s ten chickens, two cats, six rabbits and tortoise
And her boyfriend Robin White, 29, helps her with feeding Newbie and mucking out the room.
Lucky Newbie will be in for a treat on Christmas Day when she gets left over Brussels sprouts – but she also enjoys munching on curly kale, grated carrots and broccoli.
Muntjac deers breed all year round, and can be found in urban areas as well as forests.
A female Muntjac deer such as Newbie could weight up to 16kg.
Miss Hickey has worked for the animal charity for six years, and is currently looking after 150 hedgehogs.
But despite being well known in the area for taking in vulnerable wildlife, the charity is facing a funding crisis.
It takes in ten animals a day during winter, but faced the prospect of closing before Christmas, saved only by donations from generous supporters.
To donate to the rescue centre where Miss Hickey works, clickhere.