Caribou, Deer, Elk & Moose - Sounds Wild
Deer Fawns

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Deer fawns

Driving a highway on Prince of Wales Island in early June, we spot a Sitka black-tailed deer in the road. It's a doe with a tiny fawn, just a few days old. The doe darts into dense forest and the fawn collapses. It's odd to see this baby deer lying beside the road, and it's not a safe spot. I'm riding with a pair of wildlife biologists, and we pull over. I take a few pictures and one biologist pulls on a pair of latex gloves and picks up the little deer. It's no bigger than a cat, but with long, gangly legs. He carries it off the roadside and gently sets it in the tall grass and lush, emerging fireweed.

There's nothing wrong with the fawn or its mother. This behavior is a survival strategy. Fawns are well camouflaged and have virtually no scent, making it difficult for predators to locate them. The mother will often leave her fawn in a hiding place while she forages, and if she has twins, she'll hide them separately.

As a nursing mother she needs to feed, and she doesn't want to attract predators to her vulnerable young. It's much easier for a bear or a wolf to smell an adult deer, but an adult is pretty fast, unlike a fawn. If a predator surprises a doe and fawn in the forest, the drop and freeze technique can serve a fawn well. Not only is the fawn hidden in the vegetation, the fleeing adult is an eye catching distraction. After a month or so the fawn is strong enough to keep up with its mother.