Boy and deer reunited

A Lakeland boy has been reunited with his best friend - a wild deer. Hunter Brozio, 8, and Bucket, a young male deer, have formed a special friendship. But when the two were separated, Hunter's mother had to spend thousands of dollars to bring them back together.

Bucket also became friends with the family dog, Bear. The two would run around on the property together, but one day they ran too far. Last December, the dog and deer went missing. "I was really sad. I thought I'd just never see him again," Hunter said. After weeks of searching their Lakeland ranch, Hunter's mom, Debbie Brozio, finally tracked down her missing pets.



"A friend told me to go on the Animal Control Polk County web site to see if Bear was there and there was Bear's mug shot, the chocolate lab's mug shot," said Brozio. "And so then I was able to trace the deer to Florida Fish and Game." Brozio says Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission's attempt to release Bucket into the wild wasn't going well. "I don't think that Bucket was ready for the wild. I think he wanted to be back here with Hunter," Brozio said.

To reunite her son with Bucket, Brozio says she spent $3,000 and months battling government red tape. "We became a licenced with the State of Florida game preserve. And so we followed their guidelines and built a pen to their specifications," Brozio said. "I was so happy when I found out that we got him back," Hunter said. Now the unlikely friends are back to sharing food on the porch.