Save the baby fawns!

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Nati84's avatar
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Sun Oct 2, 2011, 10:57 AM
Please copy and paste this in your journal, and spread the word! It is important that as many people know this as possible for the safety of baby deer, everywhere! }}

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I've seen many, many photos on DA of whitetail fawns that people have found in the fields and woods, and some of these fawns have been picked up and held for "photo-shoots", or even "rescued" and brought home.  Please, if you find a fawn, don't touch it, pick it up or move it,

unless it has been left in a dangerous area and MUST be moved (a roadside ditch, for instance), or if you absolutely know for SURE that the mother is dead (hit by a car, shot by a poacher, or whatever), or has abandoned it. A doe may occasionally abandon a fawn if she has had twins or triplets and one is disproportionately smaller than the others, or she may be a first-time, inexperienced doe which has been scared away from her fawn before she was able to bond with it. Just because you don't see the mother, that doesn't mean that she has definitely abandoned it; she is probably right nearby. Fawns are left to "hide" in this way by their mothers; this is totally natural behavior!

After giving birth, the doe cleans the fawn, feeds it and moves it away from the birthing site. Then she leaves the fawn alone for eight hours or more while she feeds, drinks and her milk replenishes. She returns to the fawn several times during the course of a day. A fawn is not strong enough to run with the doe until it is at least three weeks of age, and when very young, it will appear unsteady and shaky. Since fawns have NO ODOR, and their natural instinct is "freeze behavior" for the first two weeks of their lives, it is unlikely they will be found by dogs or coyotes (unless tripped over). Staying with her fawn would give away its hiding place. When a fawn is removed by humans or a predator, the doe will continue to look for it for two to three days, continually returning to the area where she last left the baby.

Also, it is a MYTH that human scent left on a fawn will cause the mother to reject it, so if you must move it to keep it safe, don't think that you have now doomed it to die. If the doe is still caring for the fawn, she will lick the human scent off at the next feeding. And if the fawn starts to "bleat", when you try to touch it, the doe may just come immediately to its rescue. In that case, problem solved! Touching the fawn (again, only if absolutely necessary) will signal to the doe that it must be moved to keep it safe. Without the human scent, the doe may not realize the fawn's hiding place has been discovered. This is the quickest way to determine if the fawn is being cared for because the doe will move it far enough away that you will be unable to find it again. White-tailed fawns will not travel great distances without the urging of their mothers. If she senses danger while caring for the fawn, she will move it to the farthest part of her range rather than the average 50 feet or more that she would have moved it if there were no danger!

Please go here for more info: [link]
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