r/croydon 11d ago

Found a baby deer

Found a male deer fawn

522 Upvotes

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u/Historical_Spell_772 11d 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

13

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/

5

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)

1

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.