Raccoon Forms Sweetest Friendship With Deer Who Lost Her Mom

Last year, licensed wildlife rehabilitator Carrie Long received a call about a baby raccoon in distress. At just 3 weeks old, he’d been abandoned by his mother and was found clinging to life during a rainstorm.

Long, who specializes in rescuing orphaned deer as part her nonprofit, Texas Fawn and Friends, decided to take the raccoon in. She named him Jasper.

“We weren’t sure he was was going to make it,” Long told The Dodo.

Thanks to Long’s kindness and care, Jasper survived, and now he’s paying it forward, writes thedodo.

Despite reaching adulthood and being free to strike out on his own, Jasper has decided to continue calling Long’s deer haven his home. These days, he happily shares the sprawling space with some 75 orphaned deer currently under Texas Fawn and Friends’ care — but there’s one in particular who has clearly won his heart.