I was out checking
fences and livestock after this last storm when I noticed a doe standing in
tall grass not far from the ranch road. She just stood and watched as I
drove by just a few yards away. After checking the pasture I headed back
to the gate to the house tract and noticed the doe laying only a few yards from
where I saw her before. Thinking she might be injured I stopped and
walked towards her. Walking only a few yards I noticed something on the
ground and saw it was a newborn fawn laying perfectly still on the
ground. I turned and went back to my two seat buggy and drove on my way.
This sighting
reminded me that I needed to post a warning about touching these little fawns.
This is the time of year that people come across these darling little creatures
and want to pick them up or feel they are abandoned and think they are saving
them. Do not touch it, if you get your scent on it the doe may not take
it back when she returns. Deer bond based on smell and if that smell is
strange she will not accept the young deer as her fawn.
Not only are
fawns found out in the countryside but also in city neighborhoods as we
encroach into their habitat with housing developments. In Suburbia the deer are
quite at home with living on the forage found in large yards and greenbelts.
Several generations have been raised among the houses and traffic and thus it
is normal for them. What is not normal are the numbers of fawns that are picked
up by well-meaning souls that find them laying in the yard or on the edge of a
hike and bike trail. A doe will place her fawn somewhere she feels is secure
and go off to feed. She will later return to check the fawn and nurse it as
needed. So many city folks that run across these fawns think they are abandoned
or the mother is dead and take them. Not being equipped nor trained in raising
deer they either have to get help or try to raise it themselves. Many cannot
get the little fawn to nurse or give it the wrong kind of milk and start it
towards a cruel death even though they had good intentions.
I have
raised three fawns through the years only because they were actually in
danger. One followed a horse back to the barn on a large ranch in West
Texas and we had no
idea when or where the fawn had decided the horse was its mother.
Another I found covered in fire ants and felt it would be dead or permanently
injured in just a short time. The third was being carried down the road
by a large lab in a subdivision. When I stopped the dog dropped the
little fawn that in perfect condition. Since I did not know the where the
lab had retrieved the fawn or how long it had been carried, and it now had dog
scent all over it, I took it. All of the fawns were raised and
later released when they could make it on their own. Rehabbers in Texas
have an overabundance of whitetail fawns brought in each year that they have to
raise because of the well-intentioned people that have picked them up.
Remember that if
you find a fawn leave it where it is unless it is covered by fire ants or is
actually in real danger. Do not get your scent on it. The doe will return and
retrieve her fawn later. If you really think it is abandoned come back and
check on it later just before dark. Ninety-nine percent of the time the doe
will have moved it. It is illegal for you to possess a Whitetail fawn in Texas
without proper permits. If it truly needs help you should go to the Texas
Parks and Wildlife website and locate a licensed rehabber in your area. They
will take the fawn and give it a chance to survive. Feel free to observe the
beautiful wildlife of Texas, but do it from a distance.
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