Rosey the Nosy Deer

In 1984, a tiny deer missing part of its ear walked into the lives of a family building a cabin on the eastern edge of the Texas hill country.

Over the next 21 years, that deer changed the lives of everyone she met.

They named her Rosey. Rosey the Nosy Deer. And she certainly earned her nickname. Rosey inspected all the new construction in the neighborhood, participated in family gatherings, made suggestions about what to plant, and, of course, sampled every edible object in sight.

She even hired human babysitters for her young does.

This is the incredible true story of an orphaned deer who created her own new family by adopting the residents of a small rural neighborhood. Along the way, she taught them valuable lessons about faith, hope, and love.


Martha Knight lives near Georgetown, Texas, in the cabin she built when she and her family first met Rosey. To this day, many of Rosey’s deer descendants live in the surrounding woods.