Our own Bambi!

text and photos : Norma A. Hubbard  (April 2014)

Spring is a wonderful time of the year, so much new growth and new life. Last spring Ron and I were lucky enough to come across a new baby on our land. I had heard that baby deer, fawns, have no odor, but I have to say, I was a bit skeptic – not anymore! We hadn’t been to the meadow part of our trails in a few days, so it was a bit overgrown; so much so we almost missed it, but there it was all curled up in a ball and not moving a muscle. Actually I almost stepped on it, but Layla, our dog, completely missed it! Layla, who spends her entire walk sniffing everything, was unaware of this little ball of fur.

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are native to our area and most of us have seen them and recognize them due to their namesake tail. They flick that white tail when danger is near and it is often the last thing we notice at they dash away from us. Since deer are herbivore, our area provides an ideal habitat for them. We have plenty of forest for them, plus we grow delicious apples and there are plenty of fields of vegetables (including corn) for them to eat – much to the annoyance of many farmers.

Fawns are born in the spring – as early as April to as late as July – and does (female) give birth to one or two fawns, occasionally triplets. A full-grown buck (male) weighs 68 to 141 kg, while the does weigh in at 41 to 96 kg, and the fawns are only about 2 to 4 kg at birth. Bucks do not take part in the raising of the fawns.

Fawns are born covered in spots to help hide them from predators and, as I said, are scentless. A fawn is standing within 30 minutes after birth! The doe will leave her fawn hidden while she grazes, but always keeping an eye and ear open for danger. Fawns remain quiet unless threatened, our little guy stayed very quiet while I took his picture! However, they will bleat for help if they are frightened. When fawns are a few weeks old, they can run, and they will run away from danger. An adult deer can reach speeds of 48 km per hour and can eas- ily leap up to 3 meters and have been known to jump almost 9 meters in a single bound! Yet until a fawn grows up, the mother will move it around to help keep it safe. Our fawn was gone a few hours after we saw it.

So as spring is upon us, please leave what you might think are abandoned fawns alone. Too often we believe the mother has abandoned it when, in reality, the mother is most likely watching us and waiting for us to leave! As cute as these babies are, they will grow into large animals that need to be free. It is against the law to keep wild animals, so let us enjoy nature in nature.

References: Canadian Geographic; National Geographic