Friendly Deer

Keeping deer as pets has been a common practice historically in many parts of the U.S., from California to Florida where the famous novel "The Yearling" took place.  The best-selling novel in America in 1938, it was a story about a boy and his deer similar in plot to the famous dog movie "Old Yeller".  The book was made into the 1946 movie "The Yearling", starring Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman, both nominated for Oscars.

"During the 1780s and 1790s, George Washington transformed the area just below the lawn overlooking the Potomac at his Mount Vernon Estate into a park for tame deer ... Washington was very fond of the deer, admitting in a letter that he had given up his beloved pack of hounds because the deer were afraid of them... "[Source: George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens August 7, 2012 Virginia, MountVernon.org]

Audrey Hepburn made friends with a fawn during the 1959 movie, "Green Mansions".  She took the deer home so they could bond for the movie, which they did.  Audrey kept the deer, named Pippin,  after the filming ended.

The Pars and Forests of the Lordship of Ruthin, by Andre Berry December, 1992

... William the Conqueror ... as attested in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle (1087): "The king (William) set up great protection for deer and legislated to that intent, that whosoever should slay hart or hind should be blinded…he loved the high-deer as if he were their father".

The Deer Who Lived Upstairs October 25, 2022 The New Yorker

... Dillie was nearly dead. Butera fully expected Glick to ask her to euthanize the little animal. Instead, he announced that he wanted Butera to take the fawn home and give her a good life ... Dillie was born almost blind ...