Deer gives birth in Chicago neighborhood

CHICAGO, June 13 (UPI) -- Residents of Chicago's Boystown neighborhood said a doe gave birth to a pair of fawns in a gravel courtyard behind an apartment building.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported the doe, described by residents as about 250 pounds, would have had to walk through an alley and a gangway before walking through the gate of a chain-link fence to arrive at her current home, where she recently gave birth.

"It sounds as peculiar to me as it does to you," said Kevin Luby, a naturalist at the Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn. "She might have gotten herself into that situation and then had an emergency birth right there. I don't think it's something she would have chosen."

Chicago Animal Care and Control said the deer family will be left alone unless they are injured or pose a threat to locals.

"She is living the life that deer live, just in a very peculiar place," Luby said. "This is probably the most urban deer that I've ever heard of ... The kids might actually learn from her and learn to live the same lifestyle she has."