Each year, the Wildlife Center admits an average of 90 White-tailed Deer fawns. In addition to caring for fawns, the front-desk coordinators at the Wildlife Center field hundreds and hundreds of calls from members of the public about fawns. In many cases, an individual finds a fawn and thinks it needs to be rescued. In most cases, these fawns can be left alone.
Fawns are not the type of animal that is regularly fed every few hours – a doe will leave her fawns alone all day and only comes back to feed them two to three times a day – typically at dawn and dusk. This helps to avoid attracting predators to the area. Well-meaning rescuers often assume that because a fawn is alone, it must be an orphan, which is most often not the case. A fawn stands the best chance of survival when it is cared for by its mother, but people make mistaken assumptions about what that care entails, leading to numerous fawn “kidnappings” each year.
Read this blog post from a nearby Virginia resident who found a fawn near her house … and what happened!
Here are some tips to help you assess whether a fawn needs assistance.
I found a fawn and it is all alone.
In most cases, this is perfectly normal! If a fawn is uninjured and alone then it should not be removed from the area. A normal position for a fawn is to be laying down on its stomach, with its legs tucked underneath it. Leave the area and allow the doe plenty of time to come back and reclaim her young. This typically occurs at dawn or at dusk.
If you are concerned that the doe is not feeding the fawn, you may go back the next day to check if the fawn is still there. If it is still there, you may check for dehydration by gently pinching the skin on its back. If the skin snaps back to its original position within one to two seconds, then the fawn is fine and should be left alone. If the skin stays in the tented position and the fawn seems lethargic, then it is possible that the mother has not returned to feed it. An attempt should be made to see if the mother has been hit by a car or is incapacitated nearby.
Rescuers can also check for fly eggs on the fawn – does regularly groom their young by licking them, so the presence of fly eggs is a good indicator that the doe has not been around recently. Fly eggs have the appearance of small grains of rice and will typically appear near the fawn’s hind end, or around the face.
I found a fawn in a dangerous place.
If the doe did not make a good choice about where she left her fawn (such as close to a road or near some other potential danger) the fawn may be picked up and moved a short distance away from the danger (generally less than 50 yards), but try to keep the fawn within eyesight of the original location. If you are concerned about the fawn, you may check on it the following day.
I found a fawn and am caring for it on my own.
You should NEVER attempt to raise a baby deer on your own. Despite your best efforts, most deer hand-raised by private citizens will die or need to be euthanized. Many foods, especially cow’s milk, can be quite harmful to a fawn’s sensitive digestive tract. Fawns also commonly carry bacteria and parasites, such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium, both of which can infect humans.
If you have picked up a healthy fawn that was found alone and mistaken for an orphan, it is best to try to return it to the same spot where you found it within 72 hours. The mother will continue to look for her baby during this time; after that her milk will start to dry up. The fawn should be placed back in the area it was found and gently tapped on its back or on the top of the head, like the mother would do, to encourage it to lie down and stay until its mother arrives.
Reasons why the public should not attempt to raise fawns
1. Fawns have the best chance of survival when left with their mother. The mother’s milk is essential to fawns’ survival. This milk is extremely difficult to mimic in captivity, deer have very sensitive stomachs and may not be able to digest other types of formulas.
2. Fawns are very easily tamed. Tame fawns CANNOT be released back into the wild. They do not have the appropriate fear of humans and domestic dogs that is essential to their survival, especially during hunting season. Wildlife rehabilitators take many precautions to ensure that fawns do not become tame.
3. Fawns grow up to be powerful adults weighing 100-225 lbs. During breeding season, sexually mature adult deer that have no fear of humans can be very dangerous. Rutting deer, especially males, can be very aggressive and may seriously injure or even kill humans, including the people who raised them.
4. Raising any wild animal in captivity is generally illegal unless you have a permit issued by the state. For information on how you can become a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, contact the Wildlife Center of Virginia or VDGIF.
If you find a fawn is that is obviously injured, severely dehydrated, has fly eggs on it, or if you know for sure that the mother has been killed, you should contact a local wildlife organization or rehabilitator. You may call the Wildlife Center of Virginia at (540)942-9453 and we can help you locate a resource near you.