Baby Fawn Alert!
June 09, 2014
Posted By: Shaunescy
Last summer I wrote a lot about the bird drama that happened around our house. But this morning brought a a whole new level of animal wonder. Oh my word! I touched a less than two day old fawn. I swear it was like actually touching a unicorn.
The picture above was taken this evening when the Doe came back for her baby. I know it is impossible to see but there is a mama and her baby fawn right in the middle. I have to tell you what happened this morning when I went to make a cup of coffee.
You can see the fence that is running perpendicular. Midway through the picture is a fence that runs parallel with the bottom edge of the photo and then again, before the Cottonwoods is another fence that stretches North towards the Bridgers.
We were watching the Doe and her Fawn in the upper left quadrant amble toward the the Cottonwoods. The Mama hopped over and the baby was stuck. So little, barely hop-walking on it's wobbly legs. I looked at my sweetheart and asked if I needed to run down and open the gates on the fence. He nodded.
Down the stairs I went. In my jammies, no bra, no glasses, no shoes. Of course, I am going to help the baby fawn. Now. The Doe watched me, she didn't startle, she just watched. And the little Bambi had poked its head through one of the grids in the fence and was absolutely still and stuck.
Not minding the thistles or dessicated piles of horse poop underfoot, I calmly walked forward. Telling them, "Hush, I am here to help." When I got to the fawn, it was 100% frozen, not stiff but so silently and vulnerably still and limp. With every ounce of gentleness I have, I picked up all 8 pounds of his fluffy and bony innocence and set it back down, his head free of the fence.
Before backing away, I could not resist giving him one pet down the length of his back. I know the you are not supposed to touch the babies. I know this, but I simply could not help myself. I felt the difference in the fur of his little white spots vs. the tawny brown. Amazing.
The mom wandered away.
Once I was back in the house, he got up and hop-walked a few paces and then laid down in the tall grass. Completely obscured from view. Perfectly camouflaged. Worry set in about the Doe heading away but, thank heavens for the internet. I learned a lot today.
The "freeze" behavior is simply what fawns do when they are less than 5 days old and are approached by anything other than Mom. In a situation, like what happened today -- when you are wondering if the Doe has abandoned her fawn, very likely she hasn't, she is giving the fawn a chance to hide and doesn't want to lead a threat back to her baby. She will very likely show back up at Sunset. Which is exactly what she did.
She knew exactly where he was and the fawn popped right up out of the grass to nurse. They walked off into the sunset. And I can actually sleep.
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All my best, BunnyFufu ~ The Housewife
