Unlikely friends: Deer, cat share warm company
“Animals are such agreeable friends. They ask no questions. They pass no criticisms.”
—George Eliot JANESVILLE
Last week as the winter sun set, two friends huddled close on the ground. Then the small one crawled on top the big one, nuzzled in his hair and closed her eyes.
The 15-point buck didn’t seem to mind that a tabby used him as a heating pad.
For more than a month, the odd couple at Walt Lindemann Sportsman’s Park have been enjoying each other’s company. Who would have ever guessed that a 300-pound deer would take up with a pint-sized cat? “It’s the most awesome sight you ever have seen,” says Nancy Schoonover.
She and her husband, James, are long-time owners of the deer herd at the park north of Janesville. For more than two decades, they have tended their mystical whitetails as if they were family members. In the last five years, their son Scott has stepped in.
Now they have one more animal to feed and shelter.
A kitten showed up at the end of November. It couldn’t have happened at a better time for the buck, which lives alone in his pen. The deer’s father, who shared a pen next to him, died in mid-November.
“The buck was so lonely,” Nancy explains. “He just paced and was beside himself. Then along came this kitten.”
The cat, with her tail up, weaves between the buck’s front legs. Then the deer, named Fall, reaches down and licks her back. The cat, in turn, licks the buck’s nose.
“It’s one of those things that warms your heart,” Nancy says.
Scott describes the friendship like this:
“They both had needs, and they both fulfilled the other’s needs. She gives him company, and Fall keeps her warm. It’s like he turned into the mom. I’ve seen him give her a bath from head to foot, and his tongue is about as wide as she is.”
Scott named the cat Jingles because of her arrival during the holidays. He makes sure she has food and water. The previously homeless cat now beds down on marsh hay with the buck inside his shelter.
Such animal relationships are not unusual.
Patricia McConnell, a certified animal behaviorist with the University of Wisconsin, says that bonds between animals of different species are common within social species.
“Look at us with dogs and cats!” she says. “Social animals even suffer from attachment distress like we do when we are away from someone we are attached to.”
What’s especially interesting to McConnell is how totally delighted we all are by scenes of a cat and a buck together. Or a dog and an elephant. Or an orangutan and a dog. Just check out YouTube.
“I’m no different than anyone else,” McConnell says. “I find it charming, too, but not surprising.”
Scott normally is not a big fan of felines.
“But how can you not be?” he asks. “The two are just cuter than heck together. You can just see the loyalty. One doesn’t move without the other. Fall takes a stride, and she takes 20 steps to keep up.”
Fall lives within a fenced area, but Jingles is free to come and go.
“They are the best of friends,” Scott says.
The buck seems to understand what a lot of humans have known for a long time:
Life really is better in the company of a cat.
Anna Marie Lux is a columnist for the Gazette. Her columns run Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Call her with ideas or comments at (608) 755-8264, or e-mail amarielux@gazettextra.com .
“Animals are such agreeable friends. They ask no questions. They pass no criticisms.”
—George Eliot JANESVILLE
Last week as the winter sun set, two friends huddled close on the ground. Then the small one crawled on top the big one, nuzzled in his hair and closed her eyes.
The 15-point buck didn’t seem to mind that a tabby used him as a heating pad.
For more than a month, the odd couple at Walt Lindemann Sportsman’s Park have been enjoying each other’s company. Who would have ever guessed that a 300-pound deer would take up with a pint-sized cat? “It’s the most awesome sight you ever have seen,” says Nancy Schoonover.
She and her husband, James, are long-time owners of the deer herd at the park north of Janesville. For more than two decades, they have tended their mystical whitetails as if they were family members. In the last five years, their son Scott has stepped in.
Now they have one more animal to feed and shelter.
A kitten showed up at the end of November. It couldn’t have happened at a better time for the buck, which lives alone in his pen. The deer’s father, who shared a pen next to him, died in mid-November.
“The buck was so lonely,” Nancy explains. “He just paced and was beside himself. Then along came this kitten.”
The cat, with her tail up, weaves between the buck’s front legs. Then the deer, named Fall, reaches down and licks her back. The cat, in turn, licks the buck’s nose.
“It’s one of those things that warms your heart,” Nancy says.
Scott describes the friendship like this:
“They both had needs, and they both fulfilled the other’s needs. She gives him company, and Fall keeps her warm. It’s like he turned into the mom. I’ve seen him give her a bath from head to foot, and his tongue is about as wide as she is.”
Scott named the cat Jingles because of her arrival during the holidays. He makes sure she has food and water. The previously homeless cat now beds down on marsh hay with the buck inside his shelter.
Such animal relationships are not unusual.
Patricia McConnell, a certified animal behaviorist with the University of Wisconsin, says that bonds between animals of different species are common within social species.
“Look at us with dogs and cats!” she says. “Social animals even suffer from attachment distress like we do when we are away from someone we are attached to.”
What’s especially interesting to McConnell is how totally delighted we all are by scenes of a cat and a buck together. Or a dog and an elephant. Or an orangutan and a dog. Just check out YouTube.
“I’m no different than anyone else,” McConnell says. “I find it charming, too, but not surprising.”
Scott normally is not a big fan of felines.
“But how can you not be?” he asks. “The two are just cuter than heck together. You can just see the loyalty. One doesn’t move without the other. Fall takes a stride, and she takes 20 steps to keep up.”
Fall lives within a fenced area, but Jingles is free to come and go.
“They are the best of friends,” Scott says.
The buck seems to understand what a lot of humans have known for a long time:
Life really is better in the company of a cat.
Anna Marie Lux is a columnist for the Gazette. Her columns run Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Call her with ideas or comments at (608) 755-8264, or e-mail amarielux@gazettextra.com .
Nancy
and Scott
and Scott
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