The Fawn
A fawn was born in our neighborhood last week and our neighbor, Denny, came to tell us the news. It was born close to his house in the strip of woods that runs along the lake and that all of us share. He also told us he was concerned because it appeared to him the fawn could have a problem with one of its legs. That it could be the foot was oddly turned. He and his young grandchildren were watching the fawn through his outside security camera. What a wonderful way to share this with young children without the fawn becoming frightened!
I have no way of knowing if this is the same fawn but it could be. We live in a small neighborhood and occasionally have fawns born here but generally only about one every few years. Not two in two weeks. And the fawn in our backyard, although small, was also very alert and fast. I have seen fawns a few days old before and none were as fast as this one so this fawn could be closer to a week old.
The fawn is staying in our yard – at least it did yesterday. I scared it out of its hiding place a second time and again, it ran right through the bird feeder area – if you were watching, you would have seen it. This time, the fawn was laying in the mulch around our shrubs called New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus). This is a shrub native to Illinois and is lovely and versatile. Ours are in full bloom right now. These shrubs are 4′ by 4′ when full grown so are good choices for a small hedge, a mass planting, or along the foundation of your house. The only pruning they need is to remove broken branches and twigs. I unknowingly got very close to the fawn and never saw it until it bolted – their camouflage is simply amazing.
The doe was here to give it a feed but she was never within the live-stream range – she stayed close to the wood line at lake’s edge. We no longer have many deer in our neighborhood. A farmer bought a 75 acre parcel across the inlet from us which had about a 60 yard wide woodland of mature oak and hickory trees along the lake. He clear-cut, then burned the trees. It was then we who live here noticed an immediate drop in the deer we were seeing. So to see this fawn and the doe is a real treat for all of us. We have been lucky in that all of us living here on the lake and the deer have been able to live side by side. The deer do little or no damage to anyone’s shrubs and flowers. This could be because our neighborhood also borders acres and acres of woodlands, which have a healthy understory, and a wetland.
The doe was shy and skittish. I finally was able to get this photo of her as she was leaving and closer to our driveway. She leaves the fawn alone for hours at a time. When we lived in southeastern West Virginia, we had fawns born every summer in the large grassland in front of our house. It was common for these newborns to be alone for several hours to an entire day from the day they were born to anywhere from a few days to a week later. They would curl up in the tall grass and never move. This fawn was doing the same. It is my understanding newborn fawns have no odor or scent. As soon as the mother gives birth and the fawn can stand and walk, she moves it away from the birth spot, the fawn feeds, then she leaves for hours. The fawn seems to know – or the doe ‘instructs’ it – to curl up and remain motionless. She leaves the fawn because she does have an odor and will attract predators. The fawn has no odor and as long as it remains motionless, most predators will never know it is there – I sure didn’t. When the fawn is several days to a week old, it will start being with its mother full time. By then it is stronger and can run longer distances so it is safer from some predators.
And if the fawn in our backyard yesterday is the same fawn Denny saw right after it was born then it should be just about ready to join its mother full time on her daily foraging circuit. I can safely say there is nothing wrong with its foot or leg because it can run as fast as greased lightening! I admit I have no idea how fast greased lightening is, but I can say this fawn was a blur as it raced from one side of our yard to the other.