What to do if you see a deer fawn alone? Experts say don't touch or disturb it
Experts are warning people not to interfere with fawns they may be seeing around. Well-intentioned people may be doing more harm than good, they say.
It comes as fawn season is here, when deer give birth. Their spotted offspring can be found on trails, in fields, and sometimes even by the sides of homes.
Outdoor educator Jerry Licht was surprised to find a fawn curled up on a Huntington, N.Y. soccer field. He took to social media to warn others to leave it be.
"It took me a moment, and I saw it was a fawn," Licht said. "If you see this, there is not necessarily anything wrong with it. Leave it alone. Don't touch it. Don't disturb it."
"People want that photo"
That plea is echoed at the Sweetbriar Nature Center, where good intentions at a Suffolk County park left a 2-week-old fawn orphaned.
"People want that photo. They want that video. They want those likes," Janine Bendicksen of Sweetbriar Nature Center said. "This deer was brought into the cars of the people, and they were snapping photos and doing videos of this poor fawn, and then they just left it in the parking lot thinking it would find its mother."
"Fawn-napping"
Just because you don't see a fawn's mother, it doesn't mean the fawn needs help. Mothers stay away on purpose for as long as 12 hours to avoid drawing predators.
"Moving the fawn somewhere far away from where you found it, the mother is not going to be able to find it. And that's exactly what happened here in this case," Bendicksen said.
Experts call that "fawn-napping" - moving a fawn that isn't an orphan.
"They're just laying against the ground, underneath a bush, sometimes underneath people's decks. They're trying to stay just hidden as much as they possibly can," said Russell Korn of Sweetbriar Nature Center. "It doesn't mean they're sick."
When to call for help
So when is it time to call for help? When there are warning signs, such as when a fawn is found covered in ticks.
"[If] its legs are out. If you see flies around it. If you see ticks on its head, if you see it shaking, anything that shows that it might be injured or sick, that's when you would need to call a rehabber," Korn said.
With deer now widespread in the suburbs, you'll be seeing more of these babes in the woods, and in the most unexpected places.
Wildlife educators say social media can play a positive role, and if you're not sure what to do, message them a picture. It could mean the difference between helping and harming.
The fawns being cared for at Sweetbriar will be released back to nature in the fall. Click here for more tips from them about what to do if you spot an animal you think might need help.
