The fawn pictured below was seen by The Standard’s James J. Green, Monday, May 9th, on the side of a road in Kawartha Lakes.
He sent us the photo so we could let others know that this is normal and what to do if you see one.
According to Dave’s Garden, people sometimes find a healthy newborn fawn in their yard. If they don’t see the mother, they might think the baby has been abandoned and needs help. This is usually not the case.
Fawns are normally born sometime between late April and early July. Does birth one, two or occasionally three fawns. Finding one alone presents a situation when what not to do is as important as what to do. If you find a fawn, don’t move it. A mother doe will put her baby in a place she thinks is safe, usually in tall grass, near a tree or bush, or sometimes near a house. What seems safe and hidden to her at dusk or dawn may not be safe once humans, pets, and cars start moving about. She will nurse her baby, stimulate it to eliminate and clean that up so there is no scent. The doe will then leave the baby alone because she knows her fawn does not have any scent for the first few weeks of its life. However, she does. If she stays with her baby, her scent will attract predators. So she leaves it alone for hours at a time. She may return in the middle of the day, but most often returns at dawn and dusk and will usually move the fawn to a new location.
So if you see a fawn alone and it doesn’t appear injured, leave it alone. If it is still there 24 hours later call animal control and they will come pick up the animal.