If You Find A Fawn Alone, Leave It For Mother To Come Back At Night.

[KittyWampus]

Public Service note for those who live in area with deer.

If you are walking and find what you think is an abandoned, orphan newborn fawn laying somewheres, LEAVE IT ALONE.

With almost 100% certainty, the mother will come back at night. The mothers drop the fawns and leave them during the day and come back at night to get them.

In RL and in youtube videos, I've known/seen people who think they are rescuing a fawn. Mistake almost always.

Check back after dark and if it's still there then call wildlife service.

If flies are buzzing around it call wildlife service.

[brewens]

1. I've heard they don't have much if any scent for predators to home in on at

first but a doe does. I think that's why they will stash them and run off. The fawns know to stay quiet and stay put.

[yeoman6987]

2. We have so many deer around

Unfortunately we also have a highway (Route 2 in Arnold, Maryland) that is extremely busy which results in a lot of deceased deer. When I seem them in my back yard (sometimes 7 at a time no kidding), I do not move in hopes that they go the opposite direction of the highway. A good many times they do go the opposite way.

[brewens]

4. Driving in northeastern Washington state a couple years ago I hit a deer. Just barely.

I mean I just kissed her with my front bumper enough to give her a little nudge. Fortunately I had just put over $700 worth of new tires on my truck. I was on a state highway in heavey woods on a dark night in mid September and knew to watch for deer as well. I was probably going about 45 mph, well under the speed limit because of that. Sure enough, one jumps out right in front of me and I stopped just in time. Without the new tires, I'm sure I would have nailed that doe. Those tire easily paid for themselves right there.

A bad collision with a deer right there could have really screwed me. I was on a supply run for my sideline food vending business. Had my truck been disabled, the repairs, towing and the food booth running out of critical supplys could have been as much as five grand if not a little more. It really can pay to be aware of the wildlife situation.

[sufrommich]

3. Every spring the Michigan DNR issues this warning and

every year they get people bringing in fawns that they think they've "saved". I wish this was more widely known,thanks for posting it here.

[csziggy]

5. I "saved" a fawn once

It was pretty close to newborn, still wobbly, and I had gone into my lower pasture to check things because the horses in the next pasture were acting oddly. The doe jumped over the fence but the wobbly little fawn couldn't do it - kept running at the fence and bouncing off. I went to the bottom corner gate, opened it, then walked back to the top end of the pasture.

After a few minutes, the doe came back, found the fawn and led it down into the woods through the open gate.

Since then we changed how we build our fences. The original ones were 4' tall field fence with the top just above 4' and the bottom nearly at the ground. We started hanging the top of the 4' fence at 5' - it keeps the taller horses from leaning over it as much and the wildlife can creep underneath plus it's easier to trim weeds at the ground level.

I've seen big bucks with full racks slip under the fences and entire flocks of turkeys duck underneath. While sometimes the deer will leap the fence and the turkey fly over, giving their young the option of taking the low route is great - and the turkey poults will dash right under without even pausing.

[Victor_c3]

6. Good to know! n/t

[badtoworse]

7. I'm guessing you read "The Yearling"

A lot more than just a fawn going on, but a great book.

[KittyWampus]

8. No, a neighbor "rescued" a fawn. I went with her and put it back around where mother left it.

[badtoworse]

9. By Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, The Yearling is a good read about growing up.

[corkhead]

10. I had to rescue one when my Golden "retrieved" it.

Locked the dogs in the garage and put it back where the dog had found it. It bumbled away into the woods. I assumed it was ok.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

11. Also beware of a skunk named "flower".