By Mike Schrage, Wildwoods Board & Wildlife Biologist

June is the busy month at Wildwoods for orphaned or injured deer fawns. This coincides with the peak of fawning season from late May to early June. Peak breeding season for white-tailed deer is early-mid November and gestation typically lasts for around 200 days. In northern Minnesota most yearling does and almost all does 2.5 years or older are bred. An adult doe in good nutritional condition will typically give birth to 2 fawns in our area. Triplets happen, but are rare in the northern forests of deer range where deer typically have to struggle with prolonged deep snow and cold temperatures each winter. As a result, our local does typically aren’t in good enough condition to carry 3 fawns. Triplets are much more common farther south, especially in agricultural areas where winters are milder and food is rich and plentiful. For the same reasons, it’s very rare for 6-8 month old fawns to become pregnant in our area, but it does happen sometimes, especially if a fawn has ready access to a better food supply such as corn or sunflower seeds. Typically doe fawns haven’t reached puberty by the main November breeding season so are bred later in the winter, if at all. Those occasional (and late) fawn pregnancies plus the few adult does that aren’t bred during their first estrus period are what accounts for the rare occurrence of newborn fawns the following July, August, or even September.

A newborn white-tail deer has a reddish coat and white spots and typically weighs between 6 and 7 pounds. They can walk and even run within a few hours of birth, but are unsteady on their feet for the first few days. For this reason, a new fawn’s first reaction to any perceived danger is to immediately drop down and lie still. This instinct is so strong I’ve even witnessed fawns dropping flat and lying still in completely inappropriate places like the middle of a road! For the first few weeks of their lives the doe will usually stash her fawn or fawns in cover and feed elsewhere, returning at intervals to check on her fawns and nurse them. This is perfectly normal behavior by all members of the deer family and why wildlife rehab organizations like Wildwoods stress to anyone finding “abandoned” deer fawns not to leap to that conclusion. Unless the fawn is obviously injured or sick, is crying for food, or a dead doe is lying nearby, the best course of action is to leave it alone and wait several hours for the doe to return. If the fawn is in clear danger from traffic, or being pestered by people or pets, it’s perfectly okay to pick it up and move it a short distance away into cover. The doe’s maternal instincts are strong enough to overcome a little human scent on her fawn. If you aren’t sure what to do, please contact Wildwoods at 218-491-3604 for help.

Injured or orphaned fawns that are taken in by Wildwoods are immediately evaluated for any injuries and, because they are often dehydrated and haven’t nursed in some time, are given 100ml of colostrum every hour for the first four hours. Colostrum mimics the first milk a mother produces and is very nutritious. This usually perks them right up. Afterwards they get fed a special fawn milk formula at the rate of 5% of their body weight. Wildwoods’ task is to stabilize them and train them to accept a bottle and nipple. This usually takes only 2-3 days and is actually easiest with the youngest fawns. Fawns are then transferred to the Wild and Free facility in Garrison, Minnesota. There they are fed from a bottle rack in order to minimize human contact and then released into the wild when they’re old enough. With the continuing spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Minnesota, it may not be possible in the near future to transfer deer fawns to other sites, and Wildwoods may need to take on more of the tasks of raising orphaned fawns to the point where they can be released.

In the wild, deer fawns often have a short and tough life. A study of deer fawns from the Grand Rapids area of Minnesota indicated that just over half of newborn fawns were killed by predators before reaching 3 months of age. In that study, black bears and bobcats accounted for most of the predation, while wolves were only minor predators of young fawns. A different study from northeast Minnesota (where bobcats are much less common) showed black bears and wolves were almost equally responsible for fawn mortality. In other parts of the country, coyotes and vehicle collisions may play a significant role in fawn mortality as well. In northern Minnesota, a young fawn’s best hope for survival is to get big quickly. Bigger fawns are better able to escape predators and survive our winters. Smaller fawns have to work harder when snows start to accumulate, and in severe winters they can exhaust their reserves too soon and either starve to death or be killed by predators first.

By September, fawns are shedding their red coat and spots and growing their brown winter coats. Although they may drift away for periods of time, fawns, especially doe fawns, often remain with their mothers until the following spring. Sometimes they even rejoin their mother after she gives birth again and all 3 generations remain in close contact for a while. Buck fawns seem to be more independent minded and are more often found on their own by their first fall. In most cases the doe chases away last year’s fawn or fawns sometime in late April or May as she prepares to give birth again. In northern Minnesota where deer have to contend with winter weather, wolves, and hunters, most adult deer don’t live past 12-13 years of age. Even where hunting is absent, bucks typically have a shorter lifespan due to their high energy expenditures during the rut or breeding season. However, a few does in northern Minnesota live longer with one record from the above mentioned Grand Rapids study of a 17 year old doe.