Burlington Township man seeking lost pet deer

A rural Kane County man is offering a $500 reward to anyone who can bring back the pet doe who ran away after a storm last week.

Marty Gerdisch said Abigail was discovered missing after a branch fell on her enclosure during a storm, allowing her to jump out and run away. As of Sunday night, she had not been found.

Gerdisch, who runs an animal rescue, was on his way to feed one of the seven goats on his property when he noticed she was gone.

"Usually, I'll see her perk her head up. And I didn't see her," he said. "Sometimes she plays possum on me. She is good at camouflaging herself and she will pop up."

Looking ahead of him, he saw that a branch had taken down part of the fence.

Moving the branch, "I could see where she jumped," as well as the marks of her hoofs in the dirt.

Gerdisch, who lives in unincorporated Burlington Township, said he has been walking the nearby forest in search of her. He put out cameras near her pen and his neighbor's house, and he has also been driving around asking people if they have seen the doe.

"When you come up to people in the neighborhood and tell them you are missing a deer, they look at you like you have three heads," he said.

Gerdisch said Abigail is 5 months old and very small. She is tannish-brown and just lost her spots three weeks ago.

He said Abigail, who has been tagged and registered, can be recognized by a purple collar around her neck and the tag on her ear.

He said she knows her name and is very friendly.

"If you saw her in your backyard, all you have to do is hold a bottle up and she will come running up to you," since she is still being bottle fed, he said.

Since acquiring her, Gerdisch said he has been raising and bottle-feeding her.

"She is so sweet. I have been so sick to my stomach over this. You have no idea," he said.

He said he has been told it is not likely she is far away, since a doe usually only wanders about a quarter mile radius from where they originate.

"She is probably right in our woods because we have woods all around us," he said.

Anyone with information can call (847) 361-5025.