Syracuse.com - Bella the deer is still alive and doing well in Pulaski

[HuntingNY-News]

She even has her own Facebook page, which has more than 2,300 followers.

Bella

I recently was made aware that Bella, the white-tailed deer I wrote about two years ago that walked the streets of Pulaski with impunity, is still alive.

In fact, she has her own Facebook page.

I clicked on “Bella Deer” this week and found Bella has more than 2,300 followers and has posted (with the help of her human friends) a total of 288 pictures. Her “likes” include the television show “Animal Planet,” the game of tag, and the sport of surfing. She favors walking as an activity.

According to her profile, Bella lists her birthday as June 8, and her page was started to “defeat the rumors about my death.”

The page also notes: “I have found I have quite a few good friends in Pulaski and Port Ontario who help me get by, spend time with me and help out with my Captain Crunch addiction.”

“I haven’t seen hide nor hair of her in a year,” said Assemblyman Will Barclay last week. The state lawmaker told me in 2010 that Bella used to walk through his backyard.

According to her Facebook page, she is still out and about — and being treated royally. She’s at least four years old.

County legislator Shawn Doyle, another Pulaski resident, wrote on Bella’s page this past Monday:

“Yesterday as I pulled out of driveway on Lake Street, I saw Allison Tighe jogging as usual ... but with Bella deer running right behind her! Guess Bella’s trying to drop a few pounds ... she’s getting all the doughnuts now from fishermen.”

It’s no secret in the village that Bella owes her life to a local farmer who took her in when she was a fawn and kept her safe in his barn, Doyle told me back in 2010. The farmer fed the young deer human meals such as bacon and eggs and let her sleep in a dog house, he added.

Ever since, Bella has been wandering the streets of the village and the banks of the nearby Salmon River.

For the record, it’s illegal to feed or try to domesticate a wild deer, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Typically, a deer like Bella that gets too comfortable with humans would be killed by the DEC because of concerns about human safety, the nuisance factor and the potential spread of diseases into the area’s wild herd.

The problem is that Bella is not in a natural environment, interacting just with other wild deer. Her interactions with livestock and domesticated pets makes her vulnerable to diseases that could be harmful to other wild deer. That’s the same reason that a zoo or deer farm probably would not consider her a desirable addition.

“It’s always a bad idea to try and domesticate wildlife,” said Lance Clark, senior wildlife biologist at the DEC’s Cortland office.

Just last week, for example, DEC staff shot a 6-point buck in Tioga County that “someone had been feeding and babying for quite awhile.” The deer, with the rut coming on soon, was starting to act aggressive, and DEC staff felt it could easily hurt someone.

Bella, though, continues to be in everyone’s good graces. Early on, Doyle said, someone put a red collar on her to protect her during hunting season. Today, she mainly hangs around the village, where hunting is prohibited.

“She’s doing really well,” Doyle said. “She’s gotten more skittish the past year, but is living well and looking good.”

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog