Oh Deer!

If, just if, you can have any wild animal on earth as pet, what would you choose?
Being a wild child, I have a hard time answering my own imaginary question--it is simply too difficult to limit my answer to one!
But I can be very sure to tell you that among all the wildlife animals, I'd love to have a fawn or a deer.
I know, I know.
Living in a semi-tropical city where living space for human is already scarce and pricey, having a pet fawn is not only expensive but also a ridiculously selfish and inhumane act.
But this is just an imagination.
Yes, I want a fawn, please.

My love for this graceful animal started since I was small.

Their round, dark, innocent and watery eyes.
Their slender long legs.
The way they jump--so effortlessly, so swiftly.
The colour of their fur, and the white spots.
The antlers male deers have, those majestic antlers and their beautiful angles.
Their gentleness, timidness and shyness.
Their quiet and gentle nature.
Their grace.

I remember watching Bambi when I was very small.
Thanks to Bambi, I came to getting the idea that fawns have spots as camouflage to help them hide and keep them safe.
Knowing that I was also very small and my mum called me a baby, I thought, 'maybe I have spots on my back too, just that I couldn't see them!'
I remember lying among cushions on the sofa, thinking that I could blend in and my mum couldn't see me.
Of course, she found me with ease and asked what I was doing.
I pointed at Bambi.
Wasn't I silly?
Somehow this personal anecdote of mine always makes me wonder if my future baby would do the same.

Those majestic horns

Another memory about deers happened on one of my trips to Japan. Also when I was a small kid.
It was the first time that I saw deers. Almost a dozen of them.
It was somewhere near a shrine, a rather quiet and unusual sightseeing spot.
It was a cold winter and my hands were cold even under the gloves.
My parents bought a few grilled/ roasted sweet potatoes from the stalls nearby, as snacks and also to warm our hands.
Those deers then slowly appear before us--they knew we are gonna share.
They are larger and taller than I was.
I didn't know what to do except standing close to my parents.
But god! Those animals are beautiful.
They moved and walked so gracefully, came before us and did something very unexpected--they bowed.
Apparently these animals learned this trick to get food.
But me as a little girl, fascinated by their grace and gentleness, thought they are trying to be friends with us.
My mum encouraged me to feed a smaller deer with a small piece of sweet potato put on my palm.
I did.
The doe walked near. Her eyes were dark but bright and round.
She bowed, ate the potato and licked my fingers.
I still remember vividly that the way she licked my fingers--gently, as if she was saying 'thank you'.

Maybe my fascination with deers has a lot to do with how I innocently perceived them in my childhood.
But the thing is, I grow up still fascinated
Deer becomes one of the things that I draw.
I have two deer figures as decorations in my bedroom, bought from FrancFranc.
Sometimes I search for information about this lovely animal, learning that they make very loving pets.

I found out that an iconic lady kept a pet fawn which would accompany her on her grocery trips, slept by her side, followed her around and considered her the mother.
This iconic lady was equally graceful and cute.
She was Audrey Hepburn. And the fawn was named Pippin.

I also found out a beautiful artwork, by Peregrine Honig, called the Twin Fawns and the sad story behind them. (Peregrine Honig's website, click here)

The Twin Fawns

These sleeping beauties look as if they are peacefully and quietly sound asleep.
Their closeness, the way they were positioned--nose-to-nose.
They are beautiful; gentle, tender, sweet.
They look so fragile.
But the sad thing is: they were never born.
The mother doe was dead and her body was by the side of a road.
Someone found her and wanted to dispose her body properly. Then they found out she was pregnant.
Having twins is a rare thing for deers.
Amazed by their beauty and rarity, the full-grown fawns were taken out and preserved.
A say story and a beautiful work of art, nature's beautiful work of art.

So, readers, I picked fawn to be my imaginary dream pet.
Oh dear (or deer), what is yours?

Love,
N