 Spotting fawns in Michigan
When you’re out enjoying Michigan’s outdoors, you may come
across a fawn. If you do, enjoy the
experience from a distance.
Please remember that although the fawn seems alone, chances
are, the mother is nearby.
To keep from attracting predators, a mother deer will hide
her fawn, who was born with very little scent, and return periodically to care
for it.
“Fawns may appear abandoned, but they rarely are,” said
Hannah Schauer, a communications coordinator for the Department of Natural
Resources Wildlife Division. “All wild white-tailed deer begin life this way.”
While it can be tempting to take a fawn that looks
abandoned, it is always best to leave it in the wild. A fawn’s best chance of
survival is with its mother.
“If you do come across a fawn on its own, the best thing to
do is not touch it,” said Schauer.
If you’re certain a fawn has been abandoned, don’t try and
care for it yourself – contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Only licensed
wildlife rehabilitators may possess abandoned or injured wildlife. Unless
someone is licensed, it is illegal to possess live wild animals, including
deer, in Michigan.
A list of current rehabilitators can be found at michigan.gov/wildlife.
Learn
more in this DNR video.
Help keep Michigan’s wildlife wild. Learn more at michigan.gov/wildlife or contact
Hannah Schauer at 517-388-9678.
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