PLACERVILLE, CA, (Fawn rehabber Dave) – Sierra Wildlife Rescue FAWN ALERT:
I just heard about the first sighting of 2021 so fawns are starting to be born in El Dorado County (early this year!) and it’s a good time to remind all of you that a fawn alone may not need anyone’s help.
When the fawns are quite young, the doe will stay away from it for hours at a time to avoid attracting predators to it. Mom will show up 4 to 6 times a day to nurse the fawn and groom it but the fawn will stay “parked” in the weeds relying on its camouflage and lack of scent to avoid being discovered by a predator while its mom is away feeding herself for hours at a time.
If you see a young fawn parked alone in the weeds, leave it there but feel free to call Dave at 530-363-4848 (or our main number at 530-621-4661 to reach another rehabber) and we’ll monitor the situation to make sure that it is indeed not an orphan fawn you’ve seen. In way more than 50 per cent of the calls involving what could be an orphan that we get in May and June (the latter being the month that most fawns are born in our county), the fawn turns out to actually not be an orphan but we’ll jump right in to save it if the fawn does need our help…
Also, I wanted to issue a warning about a related issue and describe how important it is to walk your property before you mow or weed eat any area with tall grasses. Since fawns are so often parked in the weeds waiting for mom to come back, it’s easy to fail to notice them when you’re mowing and serious injuries or death can result when you mow over the top of them. Please check it out and look for fawns before you start! Please share far and wide, thank you!!