Hidden in the redwoods above Watsonville, a shy and ghostly beauty once drew crowds but is now destined to live, and die, alone.
The small white doe is the sole survivor of a large and cherished herd of fallow deer created by famed publisher William Randolph Hearst, gifted to cattle baron Henry Miller, bought by Santa Clara County and then expanded by the addition of a smaller herd seized during a raid of an illegal farm in Morgan Hill.
Now she is a mere oddity. The exotic creature, living out her final years in comfort in a wooded pasture, represents the end of an era at Mount Madonna County Park that is now committed to protecting wildlife that is native and natural, not weird.
“The strategy is to keep her healthy and alive,” said ranger Scott Christopher, who schedules the deer’s veterinary appointments and feeds her daily with a flake of alfalfa and a half can of sweetened honey oats. Protected by a tall black chain link fence, “she seems cheerful and happy and prancing around, running.”
Named Penelope, the 10-year-old deer was born cream-colored but is now white, giving her a haunting appearance among the park’s dark forests. Fallow deer aren’t albino; rather, they’re “leucistic,” with dark eyes and muzzle. Much smaller than California’s native mule deer, fallow deer are an ancient species believed to be related to the extinct Irish elk. Like elk, their antlers aren’t pointed but are huge and flat, in the shape of a hand.
Her last companion, dubbed Big Boy, died of old age last year. Separated by a fence so they wouldn’t breed, they could only gaze at each other.
Fallow deer, native to the eastern Mediterranean, have been moved around by humans since the Roman Empire, populating every continent except Antarctica. In the 11th century, Normans introduced them to medieval Britain, where royalty kept them in large herds on enclosed estates – often called deer parks – for viewing and hunting. They represented power and…
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