Bucky at the beach: family takes pet fawn on summer holiday
We're all going on a summer holiday - including a sprightly four legged friend called Bucky.
Cambridge Holidaymakers Josh and Claire van der Valk didn't want their baby deer missing out on all the New Year's fun so they took him with them.
Their beloved Black Fallow fawn is a recent addition to the van der Valk crew after Josh found him abandoned in a forest at the back of their farm.
At four weeks old, Bucky is too young to be left at home, so the family brought him along for their holiday at Onemana beach, just north of Whangamata, in the Coromandel.
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When not on a lead, he's taken to loyally trotting behind his family on the hot sand, doting on "mum" Josh and occasionally licking his shoulder.
And the news there's a guy with a deer on the beach has got around, causing a stir among other beachgoers.
"Most people ask if Santa's Sleigh has lost one of its reindeers," Josh said.
"But you can't go anywhere without people coming up to us and patting him.
"A lady came up to me in the supermarket carpark saying she'd love to take him home, but I'm not planning to give him away any time soon."
Kids especially love him, after one meets him, they'll run and get their brother or cousins to come have a look, Josh said.
"One lady says we should charge a dollar for every pat."
But Bucky doesn't mind the attention, being naturally gentle in nature - at this age, anyway.
"When he gets older, he'll get vicious.
"Deer can kill their owners when they get territorial, especially during breeding season, and they've got hard antlers on the head."
They'll fence off a bit of land for him back home once he's a toddler, where he can run off his energy outside.
He'll be neighbours to the van der Valk's other Red deer, John Deere, who's got a couple girlfriends and 8 children around the paddock.
For now though, Bucky seems to be enjoying his youth as he happily frolics on the sand.
He hasn't tried the water yet, Josh said, despite the surprising fact deer are good swimmers.
"Deer are excellent in the water, I know guys who have shot deer swimming across rivers."
An avid deer hunter himself, Josh often gets asked what he did to his parents.
"People always ask me - did you shoot his mum? and I say no of course not!"
And he doesn't have any plans to make a roast Bucky, either.
"He definitely won't be going into the pot. He's my mate now."
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