This chapter discusses the serialized story Robina Crusoe, and Her Lonely Island Home by Elizabeth Whittaker, published in the Victorian periodical The Girl’s Own Paper in 1882 and 1883. I focus on the relationship between the protagonist and the animals around her, which she fears, domesticates, hunts, or treats with affection. I highlight the context of these interactions, i.e., the emergence of a new kind of girlhood in late nineteenth century, more suited to the needs of imperial Britain. Whittaker’s story showcases the symbolic violence of ‘civilizing’ colonialism, in which stereotypically feminine qualities such as patience, self-restraint, and nurturing care contribute to the appropriation and control of non-European spaces. Ultimately, this paper strives to establish a parallel between the colonial policing of girlhood and the brutal takeover of the animal world by the Western civilizing hero(ine).