Wildlife: Fawn

I was having my coffee in the sunroom when something caught my eye in the yard. At first I thought it was a neighbor dog. Looking closer, I see it is a baby deer. He couldn't have been more than a week old.

I grabbed my camera and got a shot. I looked around for momma but didn't see anything. Poor little thing started running up the field next door. I looked this morning but no sign of him or his mother. I hope he found her.

By Peggy

Answers:

Wildlife: Fawn

Most likely the fawn was not abandoned. Once a doe gives birth to a fawn, she will leave them alone for a time. She will only return to nurse them.

When fawns are born they do not have a scent on them but the mother does. Since the mother does have a scent, she would draw in predators. So she stays away from the fawn for a while, I forgot for how long.

Our PA state game commissioner explained this to me. We had a newborn fawn on our property and thought it was abandoned. We didn't touch it, just watched it.

He told me some people will take the fawn, thinking it was abandoned and notify them. When this happens usually the fawn never gets back to the mother and must be hand raised. So if you ever see a newborn fawn, just let it be, Mom is near by. (06/15/2010)

By it's.only.me