Stranded Deer Attends Funeral in New Albin

RISER, REISER, KAUFMANN

Posted By: Errin Wilker (email)
Date: 5/17/2007 at 20:18:14

Undated Newspaper Clipping (late 1930s or early 1940s)

STRANDED DEER ATTENDS FUNERAL IN NEW ALBIN
At a large church funeral here, a young deer joined in the procession and entered the church with the mourners.

Surprising? Not in New Albin. It was just one more instance of participating in community affairs for the deer which last fall for­sook the wilds of the Mississippi River hills to spend the winter in this town of 600 people at the Iowa-Minnesota border. The deer strolls at will around the village, visits back doors of homes for feed, goes to the school, plays with the children and dogs, and visits the meat market and groc­ery stores for handouts.

So, when the townspeople gath­ered at the church the past week for a funeral, the deer just natur­ally went along.

MILK TO DRINK
The story of the village pet goes back to last June, when the Earl Riser family, farmers living near New Albin, found the deer a few days old in their yard. The two little Riser daughters joyfully took charge of the fawn, and taught it to drink milk from a bottle. Seven bottles a day the little fellow drank. No mother deer appearing, it was assumed the little fellow was really an orphan -- the mother either having died, or been separ­ated somehow from her offspring in the June flooding of the Missis­sippi.

The Risers gave the deer com­plete freedom and after some weeks, it often disappeared, but always returned for milk and other feed the children put out for him. The deer in its wanderings soon learned there was food and friendly attention awaiting him in other places in and around New Albin, and through the late summer and fall, frequently visited the village.

Now that winter is here, he is spending practically all his time in New Albin. "He is fat as but­ter," according to Game Warden George Kaufmann. "I don't know what would happen to anyone who harmed that deer. The whole town would be up in arms."

There is a problem in the offing, however, and it is now a town topic. "What will happen in the spring, when the Victory Gardens send up those succulent green shoots that all deer love?"

STROLLS AT WILL
The Community Club is considering asking the Iowa Conservation Commission for permission to build a pen in the park as a sum­mer home for the town pet and a mate they hope to provide him.

The deer strolls at will up and down Main Street -- visits back doors of homes where feed is regu­larly put out for him -- goes to the school yard to look in the windows at the children -- sometimes follows a customer through a door into the food stores -- even plays with dogs, and now goes to a funeral.

Folks -- from the oldest down to the toddlers -- love and pet and feed the pretty creature. Crackers, oat­meal, and apples he especially favors. He loves candy and eats it out of the children's hands.

*NOTE*
Received this from a cousin re: the deer story...

...I was there and recalled that the deer ate some of the flowers at the funeral too! But don't remember whose funeral????

I believe it was in the spring when he was penned up close to the creamery but during the mating season he became a problem. I don't remember if the game warden took him far away so he would not come back or what...