50 Years Ago

Sunday, Dec. 24, 1972 A “Rudolph” of their very own

Almost every child would like to have his own pet “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” especially at Christmas time.

Robin and Stacy Burk, children of Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Burk of Armuchee Route 1, have come just about as close to that dream as you can get south of the North Pole.

Back in June their father was plowing his soybean field when he found a fawn about a week old. There was no mother deer in sight, so Burk picked up the tiny animal in his arms and carried her home.

Mr. and Mrs. Burk, joined by Robin, 3, Stacy, 2, and most of the neighborhood children, fed the fun with a bottle until she was old enough to eat grass and cow feed.

Josie, as she was soon named, has stayed at the Burk’s like a pet ever since, even though she is not confined at all.

She behaves like a pet dog, running to greet people who drive up in cars, playing with the children, trying to get in the house when she sees a chance, and even tagging along on hunting trips.

“I have to distract her with a bottle while Cecil goes off to hunt,” said Mrs. Burk, but she usually tracks him down.

Josie got her name from a TV cartoon program “Josie and the Pussycats,” Mrs. Burk explained.

Josie gets along just great with the Berks’ 11 or so cats. She eats out of the dish with them, preferring any bread that they don’t get to first. When the cats are too lazy to give themselves a bath Josie does it for them with her strong deer tongue.

The only problem with a pet deer is that she grows faster than children. Josie is now bigger than Robin or Stacy and sometimes gets a little too playful.

“The kids don’t know what to think because she’s growing up so much faster than they are,” said Mrs. Burk. “But I think when she really gets bigger she won’t be as playful as she is now. She’s really in her most playful stage now.”