Fawns should be left alone

"Please, leave the fawns alone!"

That plea comes from Tracy Leonhardy, a wildlife rehabilitator in the Sisters area who ends up having to handle "abandoned" fawns.

Steve George, ODFW Wildlife Biologist in Bend, is the one who has to clean up the messes caused by well-meaning, but misinformed, people who carry baby wildlife out of the forest.

"No matter how we try," he says,"we can't seem to get the word out to leave baby wildlife alone. Leaving a fawn by itself is what deer do; that way there is less chance the fawn will be killed by a predator. After all, fawns are almost odorless, and because of that, often overlooked by a hungry coyote. They also blend in so well with their backgrounds, they are virtually invisible to large raptors."

According to the Oregon State Police, it is illegal to interfere with, pick up or harrass mule deer fawns and any other "game animal" or marine mammal. The bottom line is: leave them alone.

Rehabilitation personnel who get stuck with caring for baby wildlife say the same thing: If you come upon a baby whatever - be it bird, mammal, reptile or amphibian - go on your way and leave it alone; don't love it to death. In most cases, Mother Nature is capable and willing to care for the babies. In the case of fawns, an aunt, niece or grandma will often nurse them.

It is all those well-meaning, curious people who stick around a fawn to see if it is abandoned who keep the baby's mother away from her charge, and cause it to actually be "abandoned."

This past winter was wet and, most of the time, warm. The results of these environmental conditions was ideal for pregnant deer around town to carry to term and produce twins. As any mother knows, taking care of one offspring is a chore, taking care of two can be more complicated; it's the same with mule deer. Often, a mule deer doe will wander off with one sibling and perhaps forget where she left the other one. In time, however, she will return to her baby and all ends well - unless they are kidnapped.

Tom Worcester of Tollgate now knows how it works when a fawn is left alone. On Monday morning, June 8, around 8 a.m., he reported a brand new fawn in his yard, worried that it had been "abandoned."

At 10:30 a.m. he called back to say, "I had a good wildlife education this morning. This is a story with a happy ending. Momma deer came back for her baby, and the last thing I saw of them the fawn was following along on wobbly legs, but keeping up."

Tracy Leonhardy has enjoyed similar happy endings, and is always overjoyed when people listen to her advice about leaving fawns alone.

It's an expensive business, running around trying to give fawns back to their mothers once a well-meaning person has kidnapped them. To help pay the bills, Leonhardy has formed http://www.WildsideRehab.com so she can accept financial help, which she badly needs.