Observe Fawns From a Distance

 

 

I was out checking livestock water troughs yesterday when I spotted a newborn fawn right by the ranch road.  It did not even raise its head as I watched it for a moment.  The camouflage spotted pattern was almost perfect except it lay on a patch of green making it visible to me.  The 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 beautiful 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 may not accept the young deer as her own.

Not only are fawns found out in the countryside but also in city neighborhoods, parks and back yards 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 walking trail.   A doe will place her fawn somewhere she feels it 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. Rehabbers in our area have an overabundance of whitetail fawns they are raising 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. In my almost seven decades of being in the outdoors I have only removed two fawns from the wild.  One was completely covered in fire ants including in the nose and eyes.  The other I took away from a dog carrying it down the side of the highway. If you really think it is abandoned come back and check on it later or watch for the mother in the area. Ninety-nine percent of the time the doe will come back unless injured or killed. It is illegal for you to possess a white-tailed fawn in Texas so if it truly needs help you should go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife website and locate a licensed rehabber in your area or call the local game warden. 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.