White-tailed Deer Fawns 2014 Release

The 2014 fawn release was a success! On the morning of October 2, a group of 21 people [Center staff, students, and volunteers] prepared for the capture and release of the nine White-tailed Deer fawns during “fawn round-up”.

During the round-up, there were three teams. One team was tasked with building a “human wall” to corral the fawns into the sheltered area of the outdoor deer yard, making it easier for the second team to quickly capture fawns one-by-one. Once a fawn was in-hand, a fellow team member would assist in restraining the fawn as it was carried down the hill to the third team – the vet staff and students who removed the ear tags from each fawn before it was loaded into the trailer for transport.
Typically, fawn releases are broken into two locations so a single release site is not overwhelmed by a new, large deer population. Because only nine deer were being released this year, they were all taken to the same location. A landowner in Augusta County allowed the Center to release the fawns on his property. Certified wildlife rehabilitator Amber Dedrick reported that the property was a great deer habitat with plenty of food sources and multiple bodies of water.