Meet the teen who opened her home last Christmas to an abandoned baby deer - named Comet after Santa's reindeer!<br /><br />Jasmine Peters, 16, has always been fascinated by deer, so when her stepdad, Shawn Ireland, 53, arrived home with a fawn on Christmas Day 2020, she couldn’t believe her eyes.<br /><br />Found abandoned by its mother, Jasmine took the fallow deer - thought to be new born - under her wing, and affectionately named him Comet.<br /><br />The family’s farm became the perfect home for Comet who was initially raised in the house before he found the wooden flooring too slippery - just like Bambi on ice.<br /><br />Now housed outside, Comet, one, is still partially bottle fed by adoptive mum Jasmine, but also loves when he gets his favourite snack - apples.<br /><br />The duo have a wonderful relationship, and Comet jumps excitedly around his enclosure when Jasmine is nearby, and loves running around the garden when he’s let out to play.<br /><br />Jasmine, a high-school student, from Auckland, New Zealand, said: “Comet is like a real life Bambi - he prances, he eats a lot and he’s just the cuddliest animal I’ve ever had.<br /><br />“He definitely jumps and prances a lot, especially when I go out to see him he starts getting excited and makes a squeaking noise.<br /><br />“He’s a very special animal.<br /><br />"He is just like a real life Bambi - I love him so much." <br /><br />Comet was brought home to the Peters’ family home on Christmas Day 2020, after being found in the wild - abandoned by his mother.<br /><br />Jasmine’s stepdad knew how much the teen loved animals, so saw it as the perfect opportunity to surprise his step-daughter with ‘the best Christmas present she could ask for’.<br /><br />“I was screaming in excitement when I saw him - I couldn’t stop shaking,” Jasmine said.<br /><br />“When he first arrived he was quite scared, so my stepdad had put him in a pet crate with blankets around it to make him feel secure.<br /><br />“We have wood floors so when he got excited inside he’d skid around everywhere.<br /><br />“We kept him inside for about a month until he felt safer with us, but you could tell he wanted to be outside so we made a big enclosure on the farm.”<br /><br />The family have a number of other pet animals - including a corgi named after Queen Elizabeth - which Comet has become friends with at his new home.<br /><br />Although in his own enclosure, he often plays with the family's dogs and loves when Jasmine gets him to chase his red space hopper.<br /><br />“He’s like a real-life Bambi - he jumps around and gets all excited - he’s just amazing,” Jasmine said.<br /><br />“The bond I have with Comet is very special because over the past year I’ve struggled with an eating disorder and he’s very affectionate and has really been there for me.<br /><br />“Whenever I feel anxious I’ll go down there and he’s always there to cuddle.<br /><br />“I definitely think he has helped me get better because I know that I have to be around to take care of him because he relies on me.”<br /><br />Jasmine has bottle-fed Comet since the day he came home, but has now started to introduce solid foods into his diet just as his mother would encourage in the wild.<br /><br />“He loves apples - but I also feed him whole kernel maize, griselinia branches, grass - because fallow deer are mainly pastural eaters - hay, and then pellets to top up if he needs it,” Jasmine said.<br /><br />Comet currently comes up to Jasmine’s mid-thigh, and will likely grow to the height of her waist - just below a metre, which is the average for a male fallow deer.<br /><br />The family made the decision to castrate Comet, so he won’t grow antlers or become aggressive during breeding season.<br /><br />“It’s a lot of commitment to look after him, but I want to give him the best life possible,” Jasmine said.<br /><br />“They’re the smartest animals - their senses are incredible.<br /><br />“I’ve always been fascinated by them and have made sure I know how his life would have been in the wild so I can look after him properly now I’m his mum.”<br /><br />Comet will eventually have a large section of the family’s paddock to himself so he has plenty of room to graze when he is fully grown.<br /><br />Family and friends wanted Jasmine to name him Bambi or Rudolph - but she decided on the slightly less obvious name for her beloved pet.<br /><br />“I thought about calling him Bambi - but I thought it seemed a bit basic,” Jasmine said.<br /><br />“So I went with Comet instead, one of the more obscure Santa’s reindeer.<br /><br />“I hope I can rescue more one day.”
