Kids found a baby deer?

Question

My kids found a baby deer while I was at work tonight. When they walked away out of the woods it followed them out. When my husband got home he was able to get it, to follow him back to where it was found. They said the mother hadn't been around for about 6hrs and every time they tried to walk away it was crying. They don't think the mother is coming back and it is hungry. I am afraid the mother my not come back to it now because they petted it and it moved out of the spot for awhile. Did we do the right thing by leaving it there? it kind of cool out and raining. I was going to check on it tomorrow.

Answer 1

wow tough I don't think I could've done that hope she didn't get shot or hit! But what can you do I?

Answer 2

Your children made a mistake, one that could cost the fawn his life. It was understandable for children, Bambi is so cute, but let this be a lesson to them about wildlife and the damage that can be done to it. You should report the situation to the area Game Warden. It is not legal to raise the fawn as a pet. Hopefully the mother will come back and claim the fawn, but the more you check on it the less likely it is that she will. Call the game warden, don't make a bad situation worse.

Answer 3

Get in contact with the SPCA now and ask what they suggest. Some states have laws about wild animals but you may have inadvertently broken the bond with the mother. Human scent might have sent the mother away permanently as she could have returned to find her young gone. She would instinctively not return as this is how nature protects adult animals of breeding age. Obviously animals don't  "think" along those lines but act by instinct, not learning. She may come back by habit or follow a scent. Always warn children never to go near any baby animal, and a deer will kill a human child mostly from fear while protecting her young or in territorial protection during rut. The deer may have lost it's mother to hunters or as prey to another. You may have the option of taking the deer if state laws allow it and you have the room, or it will be sent to be raised to release later depending on the available programs in your area. Please call the SPCA when you receive this as soon as is possible.

Answer 4

Watch it for the nite if mom dosent take back call the vet or the dnr and find out how to care for it  it can be fun for the whole family if your willing to be the 24 7 for it for it will be just like having a baby in the house again and you'll have to find a place  where will be safe from dogs and other things that mite like a free meal for it wont be able to care for self we had one and was bottle feed and in a pen large dog pen till old enough to be in our fenced in yard  the dnr will sometimes help you with the how to but you'll have to do the work  and the children will learn a lot from

Answer 5

judith, what a LONG sentence!!!  It made me tired just reading it!

First off, does often leave their young for hours at a time.  As far as the baby following you, newborn lambs often do that also.  They'll follow just about any object that moves.  Since it was crying, that was a good signal for mom to come back to.  If it's still squaking today, then something probably happened to mom.  Normally they lay motionless and won't say a peep even when you nearly step on them.  

As far as baby deer go, keep in mind that they grow into big deer.  A few years ago the conservation agent gave my sister a fawn after its mother was hit by a car.  She raised it with her dairy goats and at first "Rudi" was really cute and very friendly.  As Rudi got older, he became more wild and was impossible to keep in the pasture.  He then realized he was an adult male and would slash the goats with his razor like hooves when driving them away from the feed trough.  He was wild and impossible to catch (what do you expect, he was a wild animal), so she ran him off and locked him out of the pasture, but he then kept jumping back in and tearing up the goats.  She couldn't keep him in or out of any pen or pasture, he injured her goats and being unafraid of humans, he threatened her several times.  As a result, Rudi met an untimely end with the sausage grinder, but being grain fed, he sure was tasty!

Answer 6

Yes, the baby should be left where it's mother left it.  A fawn may be left alone for sometime and the mother will still come back.  It's May, it's not so cold it's going to freeze the little thing.  I don't think that old info about a mother not accepting a baby because it smells like humans is true.