Leave "abandoned" fawns where you find them

fawn 2153 cropt 900 — White-tailed fawns have beautiful eyes that are blue when they are first born

Michigan, USA white-tailed deer give birth in May and June. I post a message on my personal blog each year to remind hikers and campers to not worry about fawns they locate while they are exploring our beautiful state, but it applies to most regions in the US. The does, females, find places in tall grass or wooded areas where they leave the newborns by themselves while they go to nearby areas to graze and replenish their milk supply. They might not return to the fawn(s) for up to eight hours. This is done for their protection against predators.

fawns 2107 275 — White-tailed deer give birth to twins and triplets sometimes

When people find fawns alone, they think their mothers have abandoned them. They often “rescue” the fawns. This leads tofour months of special care with registered wildlife rehabbers. It’s against the law for unregistered people to raise them themselves.

Unless the fawn is sick, injured or the mother is dead, assume it’s fine. Get detailed information about when to intervene atwww.FawnCare.com. Please share this with Facebook friends and neighbors so more fawns can remain with their mothers where they belong.

Warning: Cow’s milk or baby formula can kill them.

Douglas Peterson

Douglas Alden Peterson is a freelance graphic designer / writer in Brighton, Michigan with 30 years of experience in strategic marketing and design for large and small companies. In leisure hours, he creates a blog where he records the lives of SUBURBAN wildlife, birds and other animals that have learned to tolerate the often annoying human species. His nature blog: Words4It.com; His marketing and design business: Vizzle.com

Douglas Peterson

Douglas Alden Peterson is a graphic designer/writer in Brighton, Michigan who has spent the last 30 years doing freelance strategic marketing and design for large and small companies under the name Visualeyes. In his leisure hours, he creates a blog where he records the lives of SUBURBAN wildlife, birds and other animals that have learned to tolerate the (often annoying) human species. You can learn more about his business side by visiting Vizzle.com or click the "Web" link below to visit his nature blog.