Abandoned Fawn help

Well, maybe not abandon, but what do you all think?

I was walking into work at 10:30am this morning and inadvertantly walked inbetween a doe and a very small fawn. (it could bairly walk). The doe got spooked and ran off while the fawn sat there and hollered for its mom and laid down in the tall weeds. I went on with my business assuming the doe would come right back for the fawn. I just went outside (4:15pm) and its still sitting there.

I’m in Eden Prairie at a large business complex, so there are quite a few people around. So I would guess the doe is just waiting for a good time to come back when there are less people?

Thoughts ??

I’m sure that doe is just waiting for the right time to come get her baby. I would let the fawn be!

Leave the fawn alone and the mom will be back she probably has been watching you from a distance all day and is just waiting for the right time to come get the little one. This is the same thing that happens in the wild when a coyote or fox or any predator may come around is the fawn will just lay down and the parent will come back later.

i agree with you guys but if she hasn’t came back in a couple days call the dnr they will know what to do

The fawn should be fine. When they are very young and can’t run well, the doe will leave her fawn alone for hours at a time, usually bedded down in tall grass. Young fawns have very little scent, and their brown and white coat blends in with dead grass in a way that has to be seen (or not seen) to be believed. Lying motionless in the weeds is a better defense against coyote, wolf, etc., than trying to run away. (I can tell you from personal experience that the lay-in-the-tall-grass defense does not work so well against farmers with haybines. )

When threatened, the doe will try to lead potential predators away from the fawn. That seems to be the case here. I agree that the doe will come back and retrieve her fawn when the coast is clear.

yep, leave her alone. That doe isn’t too far off. Also, that doe isn’t going to come back and make a scene either.

Animals do just fine when this happens. It happens more than what we realize.

Read this article from the DNR’s website…

Abandoned Young