Saving Bambi
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Photographed 2:12pm on Saturday, June 3.hawes spencer -
How this enterprise began.hawes spencer -
Heading toward the mama near the forest.hawes spencer
A samaritan who plucked a newborn fawn that had been wandering amid the traffic of Mint Springs Road near Crozet directs a trio of girls to return the errant youth to its mother, a doe who was standing cautiously a couple hundred yards away at the edge of a forest near Lanetown Road. The girls got the job done.
–story adjusted to give correct word for baby deer at 8:45am Monday
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19 comments
It's Momma will never take her back now that they got their stink all over her! When my kids came back home smelling like deer I sent them packin'!
It's not a foal, it's a fawn! Foals are horses!
@Davis: Thanks for the correction. Have just corrected the text from foal to fawn.--hawes spencer
That is a myth that a mother - of a fawn (or a bird) will reject it because of human smell and the same for baby birds too. One should NEVER move a fawn that is parked. I do wonder if this fawn's mother will return and if someone is keeping an eye out that it does.
generally a doe will leave a fawn in a safe place while it goes off to feed. it will return at a later time when it is done. As long as you keep the fawn that has wandered off safe and keep it the general area, the doe will retrieve it.
If it was "wandering amid the traffic", it wasn't "parked". Officers should be scanning the area to see if it's mother had been struck by a car and was in a ditch injured or dead. If so the fawn needs to be transported to the Wildlife Center ASAP for care. From the look of it, it must only be a week or two old.
Truth is we have enough deer. Now just another to run in front of you as you go to work one early morning.
Lucky fawn. I have seen a few who didn't make it through an attempt to cross the road.
For all who seem to be enjoying this little post, I thought I'd toss a coupla more pix up here.--hawes spencer
That's it lady, stick the fawn under your armpit to makes sure your scent is on the fawn and it is rejected by its mother.
If you read the article CAREFULLY, you will notice that the mama was nearby, and that the girls moved the fawn out of harms way to a safe place for mama to retrieve it, which she will do. They did the exact right thing. Why are people so quick to jump to conclusions??
Well, maybe they just repeat old myths because that's easier than looking up the facts which show that the rejecting-mom idea is false. http://www.knowhunting.com/article.html?id=39
The fact is if a wild animal has a bad experience with a human it will view that scent as a danger. Stop defending a stupid action. You really do not know how a wild animal will react or are deer now domesticated creatures?
Mother deer often leave their little ones during the day to forage on their own and to keep predators away from the little ones, as the adults have a stronger smell (and are bigger, easier to see) than the fawns. I know this family acted with a good heart. However, it is best to leave babies where they are even if next to a road or trying to cross the road. The mom will return and care for the fawn when people aren't around.
Hah! Only in a Disney movie would this save that fawns life as the doe will now reject that fawn. That said, these girls did no harm as the fawn would have died in traffic anyway.
How did you people get stuck on this smell thing? The mother WILL NOT reject the fawn, Get a grip! would you rather it get squashed on the road?
Only in Charlottesville would people argue over the ethics of yanking a fawn out of traffic.
Save the fawn and throw the UVa Board of Visitors into the traffic!
Amen Davis