Published: June 07, 2006 08:30 am            

Concerned folks shouldn’t ‘fawn’ over baby deer

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Few creatures are as cute as little baby deer fawns. They’re small, and cuddly, and big-eyed, and curious.

And they can kill you, and your dog, and your cat, and everyone you love – and they won’t even feel bad about it!

(They don’t seem so cute anymore, do they?)

In Oklahoma, most fawns are born in May and June, and start becoming visible in mid- to late June. That’s when people begin seeing fawns along the sides of roads, or along the river – and with thoughts of Bambi in their heads, they pick up those fawns to “rescue” them from the cruel wilds.

That, according to Game Warden Brady May, is a very bad idea.

“Not only is it illegal to pick up wildlife, you’re actually hurting an animal’s chances of survival,” said May. “Also, there’s a great risk of acquiring tick-borne diseases, like Lyme’s disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, from handling tick-infested wildlife. And if that’s not enough, there’s an even greater threat of rabies from unintentional scratches and bites. Wild animals cannot be vaccinated against rabies or distemper.”

May said people often find fawns alone, and assume the mother has been killed – just like Bambi’s mom in the movie. But reality is quite different from the movies. The doe is most likely out looking for food, and when she comes back, she’d probably like to find her baby where she left it, as opposed to seeing it being driven off in the back of an SUV by some well-meaning but woefully ignorant humans.

“During their first seven to 10 days, baby animals need the colostrum in their mothers’ milk,” said May. “And if they don’t get it, they’re probably not going to make it, anyway. So if you take away a baby during that time, you’re doing a lot more harm than good.”

May said that even if a baby animal has been touched by humans, that doesn’t mean its mom won’t take it back.

“There’s an old wives’ tale that once you’ve touched a baby animal, the mother won’t go near it again,” said May. “That is not true at all.”

May said baby deer aren’t the only ones that need to be left alone. Any wild animal is going to do better in nature than in a living room, and can be dangerous to the humans who try to adopt it.

“Baby raccoons will actually come after you; I’m scared of those little guys,” said May. “But if you mess around with them, you’re putting yourself at the risk of catching rabies.”

David Wilson at the Three Forks Nature Center in Sequoyah State Park said the center receives a lot of calls this time of year about “abandoned” baby animals.

“We tell them to leave them alone for 24 hours,” said Wilson. “If they go away during that time, they’re probably OK. If not, we tell them to bring them in. Of course, there are going to be times when a doe is run over and the animal could be orphaned, but there’s really no way to tell.”

Northeast Regional State Park Manager Sterling Zearley said fawns that are assumed to have been orphaned get brought in to the nature center quite often, but like May, he stressed the importance of leaving them alone. They’re probably going to get better care from their mom than they could get in captivity.

“It’s hard for us, because those fawns need to be fed every three or four hours,” said Zearley. “When you get six or seven of them, that gets to be a big chore. We’re to the point now where we can’t take in any more.”



Eddie Glenn writes for the Tahlequah (Okla.) Daily Press.

        

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