Fawn

We've been seeing a couple of pregnant doe at our feeder. I mean one is REALLY pregnant, like as if with twins. I can even see their teats swollen up, with my naked eye. Anyway, today my husband says oh there's a doe out in the pasture, then he says wait - there's a baby! The doe was walking across the lower pasture with the fawn at her heels. The fawn only comes up to her knees, not much larger than a large rabbit. She paraded it around, then must have told it to lay down and wait for her. It laid down in the tall grass and disappeared from our view. Then the doe went into the woods on her own. Pictures will have to wait until it is closer. I like to think she was showing off her newborn to us.

I'm reminded of last year when our neighbor found a fawn in the woods and thought it had been abandoned. He brought it home, called us and told us he had one, carried it around, allowed his dogs to "play" with it (errrgh...) and it took some convincing to get him to relinquish it. Thank goodness he did call us so that we could intervene. He wanted to raise it, since he thought it had been abandoned. I know he meant no harm; he loves wildlife like we do! Some people just don't realize that the mother will leave the fawn in a safe, usually well camouflaged, place and return for it later. My husband put a rag over the fawn's eyes so it wouldn't follow him back, and took the fawn back to the log where it had been found. Since our neighbor had it for so long (all day), the fawn was imprinting on it and it wouldn't stop following him. Later that night my husband checked and the fawn was gone, so mama must have come back and gotten it. I must say, it was beautiful, with those big brown eyes. But -- the deer belong in the woods, not in your living room! Hopefully that message sunk in.