By Anne Muller
Wildlife Watch maintains a “hotline” in two phone directories,
and every spring, we receive
numerous panicky calls
about fawns. The advice we
give is leave fawns where they
are provided they’re in a safe
location. Although fawns may
appear to be abandoned, the
mom will come about twice a
day to nurse, usually when no
one is around and usually when
it’s dark. If the fawn seems comfortable
and healthy, chances
are s/he’s getting her nourishment.
Try to locate a fawn
rehabber near you for those rare
times when the mother has
been killed. For first aid tips,
please see the link at our website – “Feeding
Orphaned and Injured Wildlife.”
Never give a fawn cow’s milk
which can cause severe diarrhea.
CORRECTION:
The printed version of The Wildlife Watch Binocular incorrectly
listed the Hotline number as 866-WILD-HELP -- the
correct prefix is 877.
We were gratified by the following
letter that came by e-mail:
Dear Anne,
We followed your advice about
leaving the baby alone!!! We did
a lot of watching ... The fawn was
right in front of our home under
a tree and near the rocks in the
photo.

Fawn watching and being watched.
Photo by Michele H
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He stayed with us for
about 2 days, and we were so
worried.. but we hoped that the
mom was coming by at night or
when we were not around. We
never did get to see her. A male
deer was feeding by the fawn
and didn’t even know he was
there. When he discovered the
baby he jumped!! (the male
jumped not the baby) It was so
funny. He sniffed around for a
quick minute and went back to
feeding. We were going to give
it one more day and then call you
back but he left in the late
afternoon...hopefully with his
mom. We did see a mom one
day later with 2 babies, hopefully
one of them was our little
guest.
Thanks for the advice.
Michele M
Valley Cottage, New York
1-877–WILD HELP
Please call if:
- YOU ARE A WILDLIFE REHABILITATOR
We’ll post your information, related events, or presentations plus
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- YOU NEED TO CONTACT A REHABBER
IN THE NY LOWER OR MID HUDSON VALLEY AREA.
- YOU WILL VOLUNTEER TO TRANSPORT
INJURED OR ORPHANCED WILDLIFE TO REHABILITATORS.
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