TACOMA, Wash. -- Meet Jackson, a baby deer who was born last week underneath the Jackson Ave WSDOT camera on SR16.

The wonderful employees at WSDOT's command center watch hundreds of cameras every morning to try and help point the camera in the right direction so I can show you your drive before you head out the door. Usually they look at brake lights and backups but last week there was action of a different type to watch. It's important for WSDOT to monitor wildlife in the area around the cameras so we can show viewers the potential danger and warn them to expect the unexpected on their drive to work.

During Friday's broadcast we noticed a deer by one of the cameras. At one point I tried to show the deer on TV to warn commuters that they may see it as they head to work and not to be distracted. Every time we went live on television the deer got camera shy and moved away. It turns out the deer had more to protect than just it's image. It was a new mother of a little fawn.

WSDOT employees have named the mother deer Pearl and the baby deer little Jackson.

We think the whole story is simply a-deer-able :)

Jenni Hogan

KIRO 7 Traffic Anchor