If you spot a baby deer curled up alone in the grass this spring, the best thing you can do is walk away
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is reminding outdoor enthusiasts and residents that fawn season is here, and those seemingly abandoned newborns are almost always right where their mothers left them. Does routinely tuck their fawns into tall grass or brush while they leave to forage, sometimes for an entire day. The mothers return when things are quiet and they feel safe, typically after dark.
CDFW’s Northern Region Wildlife Program Manager Jeff Stoddard says the agency fields calls every year from people worried about lone fawns, and the guidance is almost always the same: keep your distance. Hanging around can actually put the fawn at greater risk by drawing attention from predators or other people.
The consequences of “rescuing” a fawn are grim. Once removed from the wild, fawns never learn the survival skills their mothers teach them and cannot be released. Few rehabilitation facilities are permitted to take them in, and space is extremely limited. In most cases, the outcome is euthanasia.
If you find a fawn in immediate danger, like on a road, use a towel to move it a short distance into nearby vegetation. A doe will not reject her fawn because a person touched it.
Feeding or keeping deer is illegal in California, carrying penalties up to $1,000 in fines and six months in jail.
To report a fawn that appears injured or sick, contact your local CDFW regional office directly.
