A Colorado store employee said she was surprised the first time a deer walked through her doors, but even more so when the deer brought her whole family back later for a visit.
Lori Jones said the deer, a doe she named “Mama,” walked into her store, Horsetooth Store, Gas, and RV Park, on Dec. 16 in Fort Collins, Colorado.
“Mama came in the front door and I kind of did a double take,” Jones said. “She came on in and I just started laughing.”
Jones said she tried to shoo Mama away, but the deer was too busy checking out a rack of sunglasses. The store policy prohibits anyone from feeding the deer, but Jones said she made an exception.
“I got a peanut bar and backed her out and took her down to the lower field,” she said. “You can’t let them run all over your store.”
Jones said she thought she was home free at that point, just happy to have a few pictures and a good story. She continued stocking shelves, but the next time she looked up Mama was back — with some friends.
“There she was in the store and again I started laughing,” Jones said. “And there were her babies in the background.”
Jones said she got another peanut butter bar out to get the deer away from the store, adding her technique might be counterproductive because as long as she feeds them, “they’re going to keep coming back.”
“Our rule at the campground and on the store property is ‘Don’t feed the deer at all,’” Jones said. “We see them, we enjoy them, but we don’t need them to come in the store.”
Mama and her babies haven’t been back, but Jones said she’s
