What should I do?

    • Gold Top Dog

    What should I do?

    Okay as if there wasn't enough going on with the 2 dead animals I found, now there is a new problem.
    Okay heres the story from the beginning so I don't confuse anyone.
    About maybe 3-4 days ago I saw 2 fawns in the field behind my house. Its not a unusual sighting, there is usualy a lot of mothers with their babys around.One thing that I did notice at first, was that the fawns, still had the spots of a very young deer, and were small. Most of the fawns were much bigger already. I'm guessing they were born late in the season, but right then I really didn't think there was a problem. I assumed that the mother was somewhere close by in the woods and just had not smelled me yet.
    So here what happend today,
    I go out into the field,(without Bailey) and the 2 fawns are there again. The mothers would NEVER have their babys out in the middle of a field, durring the day, espescially in this heat. Normal deer that young would run as soon as they see a human, but these didn't.They obviously hadn't learned the fear of humans enough from their mother. The big question, where is the mother? It is very possible she was shot or hit by a car, theres 2 sections of woods and the deer have to cross a highway right in the middle of it, deer get hit very often on that road. So I'm there, in the field, about 15-20 feet from these 2 fawns who arn't afriad of me at all, deffinetly more curious than scared.
     

     

     

     

     

    What should I do? Its summer and I have time, and of course I'd love to raise 2 fawns, but I know that probably wouldn't be best for them.  Call a re-habber maybe? Maybe if I'm lucky they won't bite my head off for not having "proof" that the mother is dead, but belive me, I just know she is. My dad thinks that we should just leave them alone, but can't I do something????
    • Gold Top Dog
    I don't see how there could be any problem with just making a phone call.  If you explain what's going on, maybe the person you talk to would have a good feel for what's happening.

    Joyce
    • Gold Top Dog
    I agree, a rescue can tell you if this is so unusual that they think something should be done... or may just tell you to wait it out for a bit.  Either way if you have a feeling about it, you can look up info on the net and see if theres anything you can do to help them if the mother is dead or has abandoned them for some reason.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Not to argue, but fawns have their spots for camoflage and pretty much will lay still so a predator cannot see them. They also don't have much for a scent which aids in a predator does get close, it can't see them.... now, if they got up and ran anytime a predator came close, they'd be dead. I remember seeing a picture a game warden took during hunting season where two hunters walked pass a young buck (the deer was in between them about 10 feet from either hunter) and didn't move. The hunters never saw him.
     
    Also, IME, fawns tend to be very curious. A couple years ago, one tried to follow me out on the edge of a field. Mom is likely in the woods where you cannot see her, watching. Does aren't going to show themselves if they think there is danger... if they die, their fawns will also. Then, they won't be able to pass their genes on again... and this years young won't either.
     
     
    I don't think it would hurt to call, but I don't think those fawns are currently in any danger; I bet mom's still around.
    • Gold Top Dog
    ORIGINAL: pumaward
    I don't think it would hurt to call, but I don't think those fawns are currently in any danger; I bet mom's still around.

     
    Maybe. . . . .
    The deer have been coming here ever since we moved here and there was always moms with babys, but theres never been a fawn hanging around the field for so long, and I haven't seen ANY adult deer around here for a long time, at least 4 weeks. I just don't want them to die, I live on the outside of the city, but theres been bears and coyotes seen around here, I'd just hate to find a dead deer, again.
    • Gold Top Dog
    well not to get all Lion King on ya lol...but life is a circle and if every fawn lived, well....you know.
     
    Bad as it may be to say....cars are the deers new predator. People have eliminated most others large enough to take them...the smart ones live by staying clear of the roads, or learning to cross safely...the dumb ones don't live to pass on those habits.
     
    I also would wager the mom is in the woods staring at you and lamenting how her fawns could be so silly as to NOT run from you lol. If they aren't getting painfully thin that's also a sign they are either still being nursed by someone...or taught to find their own tucker. Worst thing you could do is acclimate them to people, in any way. That either dooms them to a short life when they walk into a hunters gunsight, or a life in capitivity.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I agree that they should just be left alone.  There is such a huge population of deer in our area they are all over the place.  Last Thursday I had to stop in my drive to let a doe and fawn cross, then they walked all the way across my front lawn and into the woods.  About a month ago 2 bucks whose antlers were in velvet walked all over my lawn eating blueberries and day lilies.  My husband was changing the oil in his pickup and looked up and saw them, he watched them wander around the yard for over 40 minutes. 
    • Gold Top Dog
    ORIGINAL: rwbeagles
    well not to get all Lion King on ya lol...but life is a circle and if every fawn lived, well....you know.

    Yeah yeah I know. . . .  I know I really shouldn't do anything but I don't want them to die. It was horrible when I found a dead fawn last year & I hate to think it could happen to those ones too.Yeah I know, wild animals blah blah blah ... There are really a lot of horrible people around here & I can only imagin what they would do to it if they found one. Theres always guys out in the woods shooting beer bottles & cans, probably little animals like squirrels, & trashing the place. Theres some places I can't even bring Bailey out there because thers glass from broken bottles everywhere.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I would get a hold of a wildlife rescue close to you. We used to get fawns at about that age. Their mothers were shot or hit. If the rescue feels something happened to their mother, they will come out and capture the youngins.
     
    You could raise them, but the chances of them being able to return to the wild is slim. They need to have fear of humans, but if raised by one, they wont have it. A wildlife rescue is the best way to go. It's baby season, so there should be one close and operating.
    • Gold Top Dog
    The one in the picture looks really healthy [:D]. If they've been around for 4 weeks I'd bet mom's really out there and just watching. She's probably even laying down. IME, adult deer are most active at dawn and dusk (when I used to go out and watch them in spring and summer, I'd sit in this nice field and just wait... sure enough, there was almost always a doe or two w/ fawns). You might want to hang out there one night, and stay really quiet w/ a flashlight. I bet you'd see mom [:D].
     
    As for finding the fawn, chances are it died from a disease. A bear or coyote would have consumed it if they killed it. The same will go for the two hanging around. Although it's tough, sometimes you have to step back and let nature take its course. The bear or coyote may also have young to feed [:)].
     
     
    • Gold Top Dog
    ORIGINAL: pumaward

    The one in the picture looks really healthy [:D]. If they've been around for 4 weeks I'd bet mom's really out there and just watching. She's probably even laying down. IME, adult deer are most active at dawn and dusk (when I used to go out and watch them in spring and summer, I'd sit in this nice field and just wait... sure enough, there was almost always a doe or two w/ fawns). You might want to hang out there one night, and stay really quiet w/ a flashlight. I bet you'd see mom [:D].

    Yeah I know, the deer are here every year, and come out usualy in the morning and night. I've been watching them, no other deer has been around at all.


    As for finding the fawn, chances are it died from a disease. A bear or coyote would have consumed it if they killed it. The same will go for the two hanging around. Although it's tough, sometimes you have to step back and let nature take its course. The bear or coyote may also have young to feed [:)].

    It was all ripped apart, bloody, and looked half eaten. Which is why I didn't stay long, because whatever killed it was probably still around.