The Friendly Fawns.....

[mootsman]

My wife and I went on a long dirt road mountain bike ride today (our fitness ride and looking for creeks to hunt). A doe crossed the road in front of us followed by two very young fawns. The bank was steep and the fawns froze in the road. Mama was snorting over in the woods and the fawns very doing almost a cat meow sound. I made a little clicking sound and they moved toward me. Guess they were so young that two humans on bikes were all that threatening. They were moving on very spindly legs and had the newborn appearance for sure. One of them came right up to me as you can see from the photo -- he/she is standing right next to my front wheel. I could have reached down and petted it. We spend huge amounts of outdoor time biking, relicing, and kayaking but this was a first.

[TurtleMan]

MMMMM..... Looks tasty. Just kidding! seen a few baby critters in my day that were to new to know any better, but haven't been lucky enough to see a fawn, let alone 2! my buddy had a orfined fawn that he raised and that thing thought it was a dog! i think the dogs thought it was one two because they all slept and played together, real funny stuff!

[silver lake]

Cute little bugger.

[ghost recon]

That happened to me once. I was standing by the bank of a river tying on a lure and a fawn about that size came up and nudged my leg. I was petting it on the head and it seemed totally comfortable there with me. I looked around and momma was nowhere to be seen, about that time my shepard mix strolls in and I'll spare you the gruesome details.

It was a spectacle to say the least. I blame bad parenting, I've also heard that the mother doe won't take them back if they smell human on them.

[cgode]

Without a lenghty explanation, I happen to have a lot of experiencec with fawns/whitetail deer. This is not a rare occurance by any means and what you heard about the human scenet on a fawn is absolutely false Ryan....it wouldn't be a problem with the doe.

The doe often leaves the fawn during the day and goes about her business finding nutrition to keep the milk flowing for the little ones. The fawn has absolutely no scent of its own during the first two to four weeks af age....and the doe also leaves it to lure any predators away from the area she had planted the fawn....she may return to nurse and will usually return at dark to move the fawn to new locations.

Also a little bit of trivia......fawns are born with blue eyes....they change to brown at two weeks old....I know wayyy too much about deer if ya can't tell....lol

[joyce]

Originally Posted by ghost recon

That happened to me once. I was standing by the bank of a river tying on a lure and a fawn about that size came up and nudged my leg. I was petting it on the head and it seemed totally comfortable there with me. I looked around and momma was nowhere to be seen, about that time my shepard mix strolls in and I'll spare you the gruesome details.

It was a spectacle to say the least. I blame bad parenting, I've also heard that the mother doe won't take them back if they smell human on them.

Sweet pictures Mootsman!
Fawns are the most adorable of all the wild baby's in my opinion!

Hi Ghost Recon,
I agree with cgode, he knows alot about deer/fawns, everything he said is true. So many times I have had people bring fawns to me saying they found it somewhere and there was no mother around....most of the time the mother is not far away but she does not stay with the fawn because it is safer for the fawn to not be with her until it is old enough to keep up, jump fences and flee from dogs or any any other danger.
It makes me sad to hear that you let your dog kill the fawn! Joyce
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[Mud Hawk]

What an awesome experience Mootsman! Gotta love mother nature.

[ghost recon]

Originally Posted by joyce

Sweet pictures Mootsman!
Fawns are the most adorable of all the wild baby's in my opinion!

Hi Ghost Recon,
I agree with cgode, he knows alot about deer/fawns, everything he said is true. So many times I have had people bring fawns to me saying they found it somewhere and there was no mother around....most of the time the mother is not far away but she does not stay with the fawn because it is safer for the fawn to not be with her until it is old enough to keep up, jump fences and flee from dogs or any any other danger.
It makes me sad to hear that you let your dog kill the fawn! Joyce
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Good info from you and Chris, I kind of thought that was false but wasn't sure. If it happens again I'll probably try and scare one off instead of letting it get comfortable around humans.

Sorry about being a downer, it happened so fast there was honestly nothing I could do. Yes it was sad and unfortunate but that's the way it is, survival of the fittest, dog eat dog and all that. We have a seriious deer overpopulation here and I'm not trying to sound cruel but it probably wasn't a bad thing.

Anyway I've said enough, don't want to derail this thread anymore.

[DesertWalker]

Cool post. Thanks.

[Buckeye]

Cool pics Moots! I always liked the spots on the fawns.

I've also heard that the mother doe won't take them back if they smell human on them.

I remember talking to a park ranger once and he spoke of the origin of that belief, it started with them rangers/naturalists ( he claims) telling children that about birds eggs and baby birds..."Don't touch or momma will never come back and they die".
Which is not true and seems to have spread throughout the animal kingdom.

He said they did it because it was easier and more effective than trying to explain why one should never handle or go near birds nest, which are full of seen and unseen parasites etc...