White Tailed Deer Fawn Rehabilitation
It was 3 o’clock am. May 27th. A doe was hit and killed on a nearby highway. She was pregnant with twin fawns who should have waited a few more days to be born. The impact was so powerful, the doe’s abdomen ruptured, and the fawns’ entrance into the world was sudden and violent. One fawn didn’t survive the introduction but his body protected his brother, who was premature and weak, but very much alive.
A Schuylkill Haven Police Officer, Bill Horn, who also happened to be a former PGC deputy, came on the scene. The fawn was fed a small amount of it’s mother’s milk and wrapped in an emergency blanket. Officer Horn then directed that the baby deer be brought to Red Creek Wildlife Center.
Once at Red Creek, the fawn was dried and cleaned and given milk replacement. It was fed colostrum from a nearby goat farm and kept warm. Weighing only 2 1/2 pounds, it was estimated that the fawn was 3 to 5 days premature. It’s hooves were still clear and soft, but otherwise, it was fully formed.
The fawn ate well and precariously began attempting to use it’s legs to walk. Wobbly at first, the fawn gained strength quickly. Within 5 days it has doubled it’s weight and motors around quite gracefully.
Within a few days, this little miracle was joined by 2 others who were unfortunate enough to become injured or orphaned during the early days of their lives.
By August the deer were infrequent visitors and were taking care of themselves. We have seen them several times together since but they are wild animals and never come near us.
The rehabilitation of fawns is time consuming and costly and there is no government funding that supports wildlife rehabilitation. We rely on public support to fund our work. You can help by purchasing fawn related gifts at our gift shop or by sending a tax deductable donation through the link at the top left of the page. Thank you.
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June 15th, 2007 at 1:04 am
I am so sorry that the fawns are not taken care of in most states, there are alot of very well informed and experienced people that would be very interested people that would help these little critters. And give them a start in life to go out into their own invirerment. I would be one of them. as I have saved many animals and sent them free when they were ready. I did not need a rule to help any of the animals I have helped. Just lots of love and good nutrition.
June 26th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
i am currently caring for an injured fawn, i commend all you do.
August 4th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
We are caring for a male fawn. Do you have any suggestions as to what the deer could wear for protection from deerhunters. We were thinking maybe orange cattle tags in the ears or maybe orange tear away football jersey. Thank you very much.
August 4th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
If you are caring for a single fawn and planning on releasing it, unfortunately you are probably signing it’s death warrant. A single fawn will imprint on people and will walk right up to a hunter. A single MALE deer will probably become dangerous and hurt or kill someone when it’s older.
My questions to you are why would you raise a single fawn and put it out into the wild? Can fawns be rehabilitated in your state? Was there no other choice? Can you legally keep it?
November 6th, 2007 at 5:30 am
We have cared for two infant deer, one male and one female have survived and are now 6 mos old. They are very attached to humans and we fear there is no way to release them. The male has nubbs and he is as friendly as a dog. We are in a dilema on what to do. Should we neuter the male and keep him or try to maintain him on some open acreage that we have been offered (1900 acres) where we can tag him and the doe and feed them daily to keep them on property. They are just too affectionate and friendly and we live in hunting country. We have maintained them behind a solid fence which leads into a courtyard area and contains a large cage that has chainlink with sunscreening material all around it so it is hard to see into. We are wildlife rehabbers. They are feed fresh fruits and veggies twice a day along with chopped dry corn and deer chow with a stream provided for fresh water and have plenty of cover and fresh hay. Their enclosure is protected on two sides by out house and our barn/carriage house.They have a solid fence at the front and a screened in chain link at the back on the river side of our property (we live on a river). They play every morning and night by running and bucking and chasing each other. They were raised in the house when very small and quite sick in an enclosed area and brought outside when they were just over 10 pounds.They are incredibly healthy and well adjusted at the moment, but in the spring they will need to be released or we will have to come up with a way to keep them safe and in captivity. What do you suggest?
November 7th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Connee,
You can not release friendly deer. See my response to Jeff above.
A male deer, when mature and in rut, will gore someone. The deer are not only in danger but every person they come in contact with.
Can you legally keep the deer where you live?
Sadly, this is what often happens when people try rehabbing animals, especially deer, themselves. It’s fun while they are little but the ending is always complex and usually ends in death for the animal.
I would ask my readers to please – rethink EVER raising wildlife themselves. That’s what wildlife rehabilitators are for – to give the animals the best chance at a normal life. If you want to experience baby animals, volunteer at your local rehab center.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:21 am
I am currently rehabbing a little buck and he is being fed goats milk from a local goat farm; however he has recently began having severe diahrea. I’ve now cut the milk with pedialyte, but what else can I do for him? Before you ask, yes I work with a licensed rehab center here in my state, but it’s nice to know how others are doing things as well since there is virtually NOTHING available online for specific reasons. Feel free to email me privately if you’d rather not post info on the board as I completely understand. If you do so, I can also provide you with our credentials so you’ll know I’m not just a private citizen keeping an illegal fawn!
June 2nd, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I have recently noticed deer getting into my fenced in back yard. They come and go by jumping the fence. Now I have a baby deer in the yard that its mother left behind. I don’t know how the baby got in but its too small to jump the fence with its mother. I would like to release it but I don’t want to chase it out unless its mother is nearby because I fear what might happen to it if its not with its mother. The mother comes back during the day for a short period of time and then leaves again. I don’t know what to do. Any suggestions?
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Hi Carol,
The mother obviously believes your yard is safe. Leave the fawn alone. In a week or so it will be strong enough to jump the fe3nce and will begin to travel with its mother. In the mean time, the mother will continue to come feed it several times each day.
Be happy you got to witness this miracle and nothing else!
Peggy
July 28th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Wow, that is awesome that mom brought her baby to your yard and you get to witness that! I had a large doe jump my fence the other evening and lie for a couple of hours to rest and then she got up and went on her merry way. I have several fawns back there that I am rehabbing at the moment and nobody seemed to mind that we had a visitor.
Peggy – how do you get across to people about raising these animals if they’re not prepared to ensure that they will not imprint them? I just dealt with a horrible situation this weekend where a vets office took in a full size doe that had been hit by a car. In SC, even a vet cannot keep them for longer than 24 hours. We informed them before they received the doe that she should be put back where she was found to either wake up on her own or not. She has a fawn, nobody bothered to look for it before bringing her into the vets office – so now there is an orphan out there somewhere if it’s even still alive…they sedated her and decided that she had no broken bones, etc. Then, after we repeatedly told them that we are not able to take full sized deer due to the dangers involved, they called us and expected us to take her. Out of fear for their safety since it was obvious that they had some grandiose vision of this doe awakening with heartfelt gratitude for their care and had no idea of the predicament they’d put themselves in….we ended up transporting this doe, sedated in the back of a chevy blazer. NOT SAFE to do!!! But, sometimes you have to save people from their own stupidity. We thought at the time, the most humane thing would have been to put this doe down, instead she was brought to my fenced back yard hoping she’d sleep off the meds and go about her business, unfortunately, she struggled for two days and just when we’d think she was going to get on her feet, she’d give up again. I finally got wildlife to come out and euthanize her today and I am LIVID that these people made a choice without thinking of the big picture. If they HAD been able to revive her, what did they plan to do with her since they are in the city and couldn’t release her? What would they have done had she awoken in the clinic? Not only did they put their own lives in danger, they put ours in it as well and did nothing except prolong and even aggrivated this poor animals misery. It was horrible. I’ve cried for days, praying for her to just be at peace, but praying just as hard that she could just miraculously get up and shake it off.
March 11th, 2009 at 11:03 am
I need some help. I was given a baby deer that was about 2 days old from my nephew who saved it from some boys that had shot it with a beebee gun and hit it in the head. I took him in, bottle fed him in my stand up shower till he was about 2 1/2 months old going outside some. Now he is in my backyard with our dog and we are so blessed to have him. I have read all these stories on here and am now so upset on what to do with him now that he is 10 months old. Before reading this I let him go out around where we live (there are many deer where we live…thinking that he would be happy. 6 hours later my nieghbor called to tell me he was out in my fron yard. I went out, called his name and he came running like a puppy and that was it for me. I have got to find out what I can do to keep him and not let my family get hurt. If he were to be nuetered would that help anything??? I do wish that I hasd never taken him in….I new he would die at the hand of some children though and I was also ignorant to all the fact. We love “Ozzy” and are trying to figure out what we can do. Do zoo take these typs of animals? I live in Texas and am not really sure if it is illegal or not to have one…..we have tons of high fence areas around here, but not sure if a license is needed or not. All the help anyone could give would be greatly appreciated.
March 11th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I found a Texas State site that says it IS unlawful to possess a deer from the wild in Texas. You might try calling wildlife parks in your state and seeing if anyone will take it.
You are on very rocky ground because keeping the deer is not only unlawful and unsafe for you, it’s no life for the deer. Perhaps you can place it with a park, I don’t know. I hope so.
I am glad you posted, though, to help warn others of the terrible heart ache that follows raising baby wildlife.
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:59 am
Just curious, where can I go online to find out state laws and licensing regarding rescued wildlife? Thanks!
May 25th, 2010 at 10:52 am
While tending my garden this morning I heard a strange sound coming from the woods by my house. I called my children and we went to investigate. The sound was horrible and sounded like someone was torturing a goat. We got about 40 feet into the woods and there was a tiny fawn up in a tree. It was about 7 feet high wedged in some small branches. I initially thought a bobcat or something might have taken it up there, but it did not seem to be injured. I had my son get it down. We put him on the ground and initially he struggled to stand, but quickly got his bearings and was walking. We went to leave him in the woods. Initially he followed us out, but when we got to the edge of our yard we paused to try to decide what to do. While we were talking he decided to return to the woods. He seemed to be calling his mom along the way. He seemed so small and I cannot imagin how in the world he got way up there. I hope he’ll be OK,