Look But Don’t Touch… Let Fawns Be
Photo Courtesy of NC Wildlife
Spring is here and the does are dropping fawns. This time of year it’s not unusual for people to find fawns and not see the doe around please do not handle the fawns because most of these fawns are not lost. Does hide fawns to keep them away from predators and will latter return for them.
During May and June, people see fawns left alone and assume they have been abandoned by the doe. But whitetails are a “hider” species, meaning the female will conceal her fawn in vegetation during the first two or three weeks of its life while she feeds.
Dappled and lacking scent, fawns are well-camouflaged and usually remain undetected by predators. The doe returns to the fawn several times a day to nurse and clean it, staying only a few minutes each time before leaving again to seek food.
But fawns are far from helpless. By the time a fawn is five days old it can outrun a human. At three to six weeks of age, it can escape most predators. Although they may continue to nurse for another four to six months, fawns are functionally weaned by about 10 weeks, eating vegetation and other browse.
Unless a fawn is in imminent danger — suffering an injury, for example, or being attacked by dogs — the best decision is to leave it alone. If you are concerned about the fawn, leave the area and check back the next day. If the fawn is in the same location when you return the following day and is bleating loudly, or if a fawn is lying beside a dead doe (usually at the side of a roadway), do not take the fawn into possession. Instead, contact the Wildlife Resources Commission at (919) 707-0040 for the telephone number of a local permitted fawn rehabilitator.
Last year while at Yellowstone we watched a antelope doe hide a fawn in the brush and then she wandered all over creation laying down a scent trail for a coyote that was hunting her fawn. The fawn being virtually scent free remained motionless and hidden while the doe lead that coyote all over the place. The coyote finally got tired and gave up. Whitetails do the same thing so leave the fawn be.
Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose
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