The doe enters a store before returning 30 minutes later with company

Some animals are used to seeing humans, even wild animals. It is important not to disturb them and to let them live in their natural environment. But sometimes we get surprises!

Lori Jones works in a small gift store at Horsetooth Inn and RV Park, a quaint resort in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.

In the area, it’s not unusual to encounter local wildlife – but last December, a surprising visitor entered the store, writes The Dodo.

For it was a deer that came to visit the store unannounced!

Lori was working in the store when a doe suddenly peeked in. Lori was speechless and amazed when the curious doe entered the store as if she were a normal customer.

“It was hysterically funny. She was looking at the sunglasses and chips. I was dying to laugh,” she told The Dodo.

But the doe isn’t a complete stranger to Lori. She is the matriarch of one of the area’s deer families. Sometimes they cross the park to land adjacent to where they graze. But this has never happened before a doe has walked into a building to shop.

Lori just thought she had wandered off. So she decided to escort the doe out of the store by luring her into the parking lot with a granola bar.

Lori walked her outside and was pleased with her efforts. Everything was back to normal.

But she thought wrong. Because soon after a big surprise awaited her.

“About 30 minutes later, the doe returned with her entire family. I was in the office talking on the phone, and when I returned to the store, I saw her there in the middle. But this time she had brought her family members with her,” Lori told The Dodo.

The doe’s family stood patiently at the door.

“They were standing in the doorway like they wanted to say, ‘Can we come in?’ I said ‘no!’ It was so funny,” Lori recalls.

No one knows exactly why the deer showed such interest in the store that day. But the candy donations must have played a big part in it. Since they’re still wild animals, Lori didn’t want to see the whole herd come into the store.

She grabbed another cereal bar to lure the matriarch and her tribe back out. Normally, Lori has strict rules about not feeding the local wildlife, but she decided to reward their good cooperation with another small treat.

Then she waved a few hands to send the deer back into the woods. “Take your family home,” she called out as they left.

“It was truly a wonderful sight,” says Lori. The animal populations in the area are absolutely superb. We have mountain lions, bighorn sheep, deer, raccoons – all kinds of animals. They have to live on their own. That’s nature. But I think they’re all wonderful.”

What do you think is the reason the doe wanted to bring her entire family back to the store? This is definitely an unusual event, so feel free to share it with your friends and family on Facebook!