Pulaski - One only needs to look at her Facebook page to realize that Bella is no ordinary white-tailed deer.

The five-year-old doe continues to walks the streets of this Oswego County village with impunity and grace.

She poses for selfies, she lounges on the front porch of certain residences, plays with the local dogs and often tags along with joggers and walkers. She hangs out in front of the local elementary school and at times allows the kids and adults to pet her.

Kaylin Switzer, of Sandy Creek, gets affectionate with Bella. This photo was taken in downtown Pulaski last August.

Tom Jones said he gets up every morning and walks through the village with his neighbor's huskie. Often, Bella will come up and start walking with them. He said the deer and the dog get along fine.

"She'll put her face down so the dog can lick her face - and he does," he said. "She's an amazing deer."

"Bella is always coming to visit our house," said Shawna Adrian, who lives in the village. "She enjoys eating the flowers and the cat food."

Along with her comment, Adrian emailed in a photo taken earlier this month of her daughter, Chloe, on the front porch, getting ready to head off for her first day of kindergarten. Bella can be seen in the photo a couple of feet behind her on the porch.

For the record, it's illegal to feed or try and domesticate a wild deer, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Typically, a deer like Bella that gets too comfortable with humans would be killed by the DEC because of concerns about human safety, the nuisance factor and the potential spread of diseases into the area's wild herd.

The problem is Bella is not in a natural environment, interacting just with other wild deer. Her interactions with livestock and domesticated pets makes her vulnerable to diseases that could be harmful to other wild deer. That's the same reason that a zoo or a deer farm would not consider her a desirable addition.

Bella has kept out of harm's way, it seems, by mainly hanging around in the village, eating what she can from yards and what folks put out.

Shawn Doyle, a county legislator and village resident, is clearly in Bella's corner. He said Bella is clearly "traffic savvy" and looks both ways before crossing the road. He also said a local vet trims her hooves when they get too long. Finally, Doyle said he and a couple of residents regularly apply flea and tick medicine on her to reduce health concerns.

"She's such an institution," said Assemblyman Will Barclay, who lives near the village. The assemblyman said he understands why the DEC opposes feeding wildlife, "but I guess Bella has been grandfathered in.

"I'm amazed at her longevity. She's a deer citizen of Pulaski," he said.

The story of how Bella got into the village heart started in June 2009. Bella's mom got hit by a car shortly after she was born, Doyle said. A nearby farmer "kind of took Bella in." She spent the winter in the farmer's barn and often napped in a dog house. One of the farmer's kids named her. She was also fed well, occasionally getting served meals like bacon and eggs.

Bella then left the farm and began frequenting the village and the banks of the nearby Salmon River. It didn't take long before residents found out there was a somewhat domesticated deer in their midst. One resident put a red collar on her to protect her during the hunting season, but it was taken off "because Bella didn't like it and we figured she'd get tangled in the brush" with it on, Doyle said.

Bella's Facebook page, "Bella Deer," currently has 2,306 followers with numerous pictures. In addition to allowing residents to record their interactions with Bella, it serves as a sort of community rumor control about Pulaski's beloved deer, Doyle said.

'Ever time a deer gets hit by a vehicle in or around the village, the rumors start that it's Bella," he said. "The Facebook page keeps folks updated on Bella's status."

Village resident Crystal Barrett said Bella is "such a pleasure to see around Pulaski. She has made a beautiful name for herself. She should be our mascot. I do know she enjoys playing with dogs. We even named our dog after her."

Tom Hains, who lives on Lake Street, near the village's elementary school, said he's lived in the village for four years. He said Bella "greeted us the day we moved in."

"She's getting big, enormous," he said. "You can't miss her, her face is unlike any other deer's. Her eyes look like they're too far apart. She looks like a 55-gallon drum with legs."

He said Bella is often OK with being petted, but that one has to be slow and deliberate. Quick motions will spook her and she'll run away.

"It helps if you have Capt. Crunch in your hand. She loves that. She really loves cereal, which probably isn't the best thing for her," he said.