August 23, 2021 – West Bend, WI – Five days ago we posted a video at Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary of Lovey the deer who was dying of old age; she was nursing her twin fawns for one last time.
Lovey is the oldest doe at Shalom. Born on Memorial Day in 2012, she was a bottle-fed fawn that many visitors had the chance to feed. Click HERE to read the story.
In the posting we let everyone know that the end was near for Lovey and if any of her fans wanted to say their goodbyes, now was the time.
The next morning when we checked on Lovey, we told her that her friends were coming to see her one more time.
To our amazement, Lovey managed to somehow get the strength to make it over to the visitor viewing area by early afternoon that day; she stayed there until last night.
Yesterday afternoon visitors started telling us that a deer had her head through the fence and was kissing a brown bear.
As soon as I heard about Lovey kissing a bear through the fence I checked it out. When I arrived, Lovey was resting on the ground on her side of the fence and Clark the bear was on the other side watching her.
I stayed there for quite a while watching; Lovey was too weak to stand. I thought to myself, did Lovey really kiss a bear, or were they sitting there sniffing each other through the fence, making it looked like a kiss.
This morning Lovey passed away.
Later this afternoon Jessica Eirich who was at Shalom yesterday sent me a picture of Lovey kissing Clark. As soon as I saw the picture I said out loud “Oh, my God.”
You see, Lovey has been living next to Lewis and Clark every single day since they were cubs. That’s almost eight years.
They loved each other; the proof is in the picture.
This morning Lewis and Clark seemed different, very tired. I posted a video of them.
After seeing Jessica’s picture, I now know Lewis and Clark were not tired, they were heart broken and silently crying inside.
So long, Lovey. You will be missed by everyone.
