I recently had an encounter with a fawn in our yard. We see fawns every fall on our property but I saw this one up close and with my camera.

I saw him (it’s a him) running around the yard and went out to try to capture a picture with my zoom lens. He came running around the old well house and within a few feet of me unaware of my presence. I snapped away while my heart was jumping for joy. Tiny little guy.

He stopped and looked around and then stepped into the tall grass and disappeared.

Seeing where he went in, I could see him. He was watching me through the tall grass. (He sought the tallest grass in the field.)

Can you spot him? I waited a while and then quietly went away.

I checked on him late in the afternoon and he still was there. Watching.

I started to think, where is his mom? What if he is an orphan? What should I do? I Googled all these pressing matters and was in awe of what I found.

Newly born fawns are too young to follow their moms around and dangerous to do so because they are so vulnerable. The doe leaves them in a protected area while she goes out to feed. If she has twins, she leaves them in two separate protected areas. She brings them back together around 3 weeks old, when they are old enough to follow her.

Does leave them up to 8 hours at a time to go out feeding herself but staying within 100 yards of her fawn at all times. Does milk is so rich that it will keep the fawn filled for that long. They begin eating vegetation around 3 months old.

After the fawns are born the mother moves them to a different location to protect them from predators. Fawns have no scent so they will be protected from predators. They spend 90% of their first 3 weeks bedded down.

The doe will return to the area where she left the fawn and will look for 2 days if necessary, and will accept them back even if it’s past that time. Deer have scent glands in between their hooves that are individual to help them find one another. The fawn makes a nursing noise that does recognize that also help the doe find her fawn.

The new fawns also wait until their mother returns from feeding before going to the bathroom. The doe will eat what is voided or defecated so predators will not find the hiding spots.
 This is also extra nutrition for her. (bleh)

Fawns instinctively know to hide and to be still when they sense danger within days of being born.

Then of course their spots help with their hiding. They have close to 300 spots until they fade around 6 months old and are replaced with a winter coat.

Reading these things, I became in awe of our wonderful creator.

He thought of everything!

So our fawn was gone in the morning, and I’ve seen him again since them hiding in the woods close to our house. He is much faster now. I scared him up nestled near a fallen tree. He bolted away and was quite loud through the leaves and then it was quiet but I could still see him running. I realized he had taken to running on our trail through the woods. He is a smart fellow.

I read that fawns grown up and live where they were born, so might be seeing this guy a lot, just hope it’s not in my landscaping.

Sharing these blessings with you today.

Katey