Ethel Estella Little
Swan Road, Harvey StationI remember my father, Charles Swan, telling me a story about his pet deer. One spring when he was walking in the woods, he came upon an abandoned fawn. He took the fawn home, where he fed and cared for it until it became quite a pet.
By this time the young deer had no fear of humans and it would roam the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, the deer was sometimes a nuisance to our kindhearted neighbours, raiding their gardens and crops. He could crush a pumpkin with his hoof and eat the tasty seeds inside.
If the deer wanted into the house and couldn't get anyone's attention by pawing at the door, he would find a window, either open or closed, and jump through.
My father had the deer for over a year and a half. During hunting season, a red ribbon was worn around the deer's neck.
One day my father and his crew were getting hay in the meadow. Occasionally a horse drawn mowing machine was used, but usually the meadow hay was cut with a scythe and hand-raked into stacks. A scythe was a curved handled blade used for mowing by hand. Since the meadow was a fair distance from the house, my father's sisters would take their meals out to them. On one particular day, after making a fresh raspberry pie, my aunt headed out to the meadow. When she set the pie down to open a gate, the pet deer ate the middle out of the pie.
Usually the meadow hay was cut and piled during the summer. During the winter this hay was hauled to the barn on sleighs. One day when the men went to the meadow, they discovered that porcupines had chewed the handles off of their scythes and rakes.
My father also told me about a birch partridge that spent the winter in the house. He brought in a small tree for the partridge to roost on.