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
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.
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/Historical_Spell_772 11d ago edited 11d 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 !