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u/Knowledgeizpowa 11d ago
These creatures getting closer to inner city London. I actually saw an adult in Chiswick last month
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u/NoCrazy8221 10d ago
i also saw an adult one on the side of the tram tracks near sandilands towards new addington right outside the tunnel
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u/Historical_Spell_772 10d ago
DO NOT TOUCH IT
It’s common for does to leave their fawns while foraging. The doe will come back for it.
IF YOU GET YOUR SCENT ON THE FAWN THE DOE WILL ABANDON IT
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u/2_dog_father 10d ago
The human scent thing is a myth, but you should absolutely leave it be.
https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2023/07/10/oh-deer-leave-fawns-where-you-find-them/
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u/WillowCreekWanderer 9d ago
What we should really be telling people is to leave baby deer alone or their mothers will get you
(same goes for any species, really, including humans, but I have encountered some particularly fighty deer who will chase you down for daring to walk too close to a patch of bracken that happened to have a fawn stashed in it)
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u/2_dog_father 9d ago
Yeah, that romor was created so people would leave young fawns alone. But there is also a more complex side to this. As an example, if someone finds a fawn caught up on a fence, most likely the mother is still near by. Sometimes there has been a misunderstanding that because they have handled the fawn that the mother will reject it and take the fawn to rehab or keep it to raise themselves. The fawn will not be rejected by its mother unless it is injured, and if it is not, it is much better in the wild with its mother.
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u/Inner-Purple-1742 8d ago
The mother probably isn’t far away, they leave them hidden while they go eat & have some peace I suppose
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u/Historical_Spell_772 11d ago edited 10d ago
This is what was drilled into us growing up on a farm and by veterinarians
https://wildlife.utah.gov/news/2026/05/19/dont-touch-or-take-home-baby-deer-or-elk-you-find
But I guess I got the reason wrong - this source says you shouldn’t get your scent on it, not because the mother will abandon it (which is what I was told) but because it will attract predators.
Although I guess there are less predators to deer in UK than in North America where I grew up
There is good reason for it though !
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u/Mammoth-Corner 11d ago
Luckily this isn't true, they're smarter than that. Ecologists regularly scoop up fawns to give them radio tags for population studies and they're fine. The mothers will stay away for a little to make sure it's safe to return to the baby, but they can identify them even if they've been handled. It's also not true for birds, although with both birds and fawns it's a good idea not to touch in neither case will it make the parents abandon the babies.
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u/OverPaper3573 10d ago
Who the hell started that whole don't touch the baby animal or it's mother will smell humans and abandon it thing anyways?
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u/Kitchen-Owl-7323 9d ago
Sometimes baby birds returned to the nest by humans WILL be rejected and kicked out of the nest again--but often it's because the baby is cold. Just gotta rewarm them a bit first before replacing them. But I bet that's where at least some of it came from, for birds.
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u/Hefty-Weather328 11d ago
Agreed, also I hope they didn’t get too close as it’s probably scared. How gorgeous though
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u/SmellsLikeColdDrinks 11d ago
BABY!