Heard a fawn bleating today... something new for me

[CountryBoy19]

I live in deer heaven (the middle of hundreds of acres of mixed pasture/grass & hardwoods), moved here last year. I've been an outdoorsman all my life but I've never had habitat that is as extraordinary as this at my disposal. Today I heard another first, a fawn bleating; it sounded as if it was about 100 yards from the house. I think after listening for a bit I was able to hone in on the clump of trees it was coming from but didn't care to go exploring because I didn't was to disrupt it. It would bleat several times and then go silent for anywhere between 15 minutes and 2 hours, then bleat several times again... I'm excited to see them out and about soon.

 

[mom45]

I remember hearing some last spring, but it was early July before I actually saw the first ones. I have a few does that are noticeably thinner in the past week or so but haven't heard any yet. I do notice that the does are coming up to eat just one or two at a time now rather than the group of six together I have been seeing all winter.

I really enjoy seeing the wildlife and knowing that our property is a safe haven for them. Our herd is looking healthier/stronger in the past year or two. A couple of years ago, we were seeing some pretty small deer and not many larger does or bucks. Turkeys seem to be thriving again as well.

 

[EyeCarry]

I almost ran over one with the lawn tractor several years ago. it was curled up at the edge of my yard/woods and I bet the front tires were2 foot from it when I slammed on the brakes. It laid there still as could be.

 

[CountryBoy19]

I almost ran over one with the lawn tractor several years ago. it was curled up at the edge of my yard/woods and I bet the front tires were2 foot from it when I slammed on the brakes. It laid there still as could be.

I was thinking about that today; their "defense" when they are so young is to stay absolutely still even when danger is only feet away. Unfortunately that only works for predators, not mechanized equipment like mowers. If that fawn is out there when they come through to mow the hay it will lay still hoping to not be found, but the hay mower finds everything.

 

[Hkindiana]

I almost ran over one with the lawn tractor several years ago. it was curled up at the edge of my yard/woods and I bet the front tires were2 foot from it when I slammed on the brakes. It laid there still as could be.

I DID run over one with the bush hog last year. It was a horrible sound as it finally let out an ear wrenching bleat just before it got ground up by the blades. It was such a mess that my dogs would not even go near it. I have some trails that need to be mowed right now, but I WILL wait for the fawns to get bigger this year before I do so.

 

[Brickmandan]

That is very cool. I've found a few over the years of hiking in the woods. Pretty much walked right over them before I saw them. They curl up with their head tucked down by their back legs and don't move an inch no matter how close you get. Once I had a few week old fawn run right up to me, couldn't believe how easy they would be for a coyote to snatch up.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

They sound an awful lot like little goats, don't they?

 

[Tactically Fat]

And then you went and got your rifle and binos out and watched for coyote, right?

 

[mom45]

And then you went and got your rifle and binos out and watched for coyote, right?

 

[CountryBoy19]

They sound an awful lot like little goats, don't they?

Yes, that's how I instantly knew it, I used to have goats (champion show goats, not to be confused with speed goats)

And then you went and got your rifle and binos out and watched for coyote, right?

I did keep a little eye out but I didn't have the best vantage point and I also have a lot to get done still.

That being said, I do have an update: not sure if it's "the one" but 2 of the last 3 nights we've seen the same doe and fawn within 50 yds of the house. Last night was the first night we didn't see her, but we were outside a lot too so she may have been out there but just kept more distance. The first night we saw them the dogs alerted us and we only saw the doe. I literally made the comment, "soon we will be seeing fawns with the does" and then she moved into a bit shorter grass and there was the fawn. My daughter was SO excited. The 2nd time we saw her my daughter was the one that alerted us; we didn't believe her at first because her little imagination tells her that there are deer out there even when we can't see them. We didn't realize it was true that time until she said, "Uh oh, mommy left baby deer, uh oh baby alone". My wife took a look and sure enough, the fawn was frozen, not moving a muscle and momma was trotting away; we think something spooked her and baby went into defensive mode. Momma came back shortly though.

 

[Spike Jones 5 2002]

I was looking out my back window.
in the back of my yard (200 yards) I see two deers.
I got out my Binoculars. it took several seconds to realize a doe was giving birth.
I was looking at the new born. I spotted that she was dropping her second.
Before the second was completely on the ground.
The first was attempting to walk. within minutes the first was stumbling around.
When the second was attempting to walk.
The first was walking and then running.
I would say within 20 minutes from the start.
Both fawns were chasing each other around my yard.
That is when it hit me. My video camera was on the shelf next to me.

 

[mom45]

I was looking out my back window.
in the back of my yard (200 yards) I see two deers.
I got out my Binoculars. it took several seconds to realize a doe was giving birth.
I was looking at the new born. I spotted that she was dropping her second.
Before the second was completely on the ground.
The first was attempting to walk. within minutes the first was stumbling around.
When the second was attempting to walk.
The first was walking and then running.
I would say within 20 minutes from the start.
Both fawns were chasing each other around my yard.
That is when it hit me. My video camera was on the shelf next to me.

I would love to see that! I delivered many goats, and I'm sure the fawns are similar to a newborn kid in activity based on what you just described, but I would love to see that! I had my first fawn on a trail camera last night. All of the does are noticeably thinner within the past two to three weeks, but this is the first fawn I have actually seen.

I was not impressed to see the coyote on the same camera a couple of hours later.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Sad to report that Saturday morning my wife spotted the eviscerated carcass of a fawn near the driveway... I know it's nature, but sad to see it. Momma has been hanging around closely; I saw her bed down in the grass Sunday morning. That being said, I also saw another momma and fawn Sunday morning. The fawn was frolicking around on the driveway...

 

[ghitch75]

one of a few i have seen around......

 

[mom45]

Sad to report that Saturday morning my wife spotted the eviscerated carcass of a fawn near the driveway... I know it's nature, but sad to see it. Momma has been hanging around closely; I saw her bed down in the grass Sunday morning. That being said, I also saw another momma and fawn Sunday morning. The fawn was frolicking around on the driveway...

That would be a difficult discovery for me for sure! I also hate seeing dead does along the roads because I know they are likely leaving orphaned fawns behind when they get hit. We end up with a lot of small deer that probably result from being stunted due to losing their mother too soon.

My doe here has started bringing her fawn out in the driveway in daylight now. I've had them on the same camera almost every day since that first picture was taken.

 

[Spike Jones 5 2002]

Seeing Mother Nature is really beautiful thing.
Some times a little dark but more times a big smile.

 

[Spike Jones 5 2002]

I did see the dark side of nature.
I put out TWO deer feed blocks.
When I see a deer(s). I will stand quite and watch.
I was watching a Doe and her two fawns.
One fawn was up close to mother.
The other was back about 50 ft.
As mother and fawn ate from one of the feed blocks.
I noticed that the fawn by mother was a bit darker in color and more rounded out.
The other fawn was thinner and lighter brown(tan).
It took close to 30 minutes for the back fawn to meander to the feed block.
When in reached it’s head in to eat. The other fawn head butted it away.
The fawn meandered around to along side Mother. She kicked and butted it away from the feed block.
The thin fawn meandered around and around unable to eat. It even walked to the second block but was hesitant to approach the block.
Finally the mother and fawn finished eating and moved away. The thin fawn hesitantly approached that feed block.
The fawn slowly approached and began to eat.
It got three minutes of feeding. Then the mother flipped her tail and they all ran away.
That is when realized the second fawn was a sacrificial fawn. It was not as healthy and strong as the other.
If they were attacked by a predator the thinner fawn could not escape as fast or long as the mother and heather fawn.

 

[mom45]

I did see the dark side of nature.
I put out TWO deer feed blocks.
When I see a deer(s). I will stand quite and watch.
I was watching a Doe and her two fawns.
One fawn was up close to mother.
The other was back about 50 ft.
As mother and fawn ate from one of the feed blocks.
I noticed that the fawn by mother was a bit darker in color and more rounded out.
The other fawn was thinner and lighter brown(tan).
It took close to 30 minutes for the back fawn to meander to the feed block.
When in reached it’s head in to eat. The other fawn head butted it away.
The fawn meandered around to along side Mother. She kicked and butted it away from the feed block.
The thin fawn meandered around and around unable to eat. It even walked to the second block but was hesitant to approach the block.
Finally the mother and fawn finished eating and moved away. The thin fawn hesitantly approached that feed block.
The fawn slowly approached and began to eat.
It got three minutes of feeding. Then the mother flipped her tail and they all ran away.
That is when realized the second fawn was a sacrificial fawn. It was not as healthy and strong as the other.
If they were attacked by a predator the thinner fawn could not escape as fast or long as the mother and heather fawn.

There is the possibility that the second fawn was not hers but one that was orphaned due to her mother being hit by a car or something. The orphans tend to stay with the other deer that were part of their herd prior to losing mom. We've seen it here too, but most of those stunted fawns seem to survive. If it is her fawn, perhaps she knows it is not as strong and this is just nature. When raising goats, my does would sometimes reject a kid. I would take over and intervene and make sure the kid was fed, etc. Six months down the road (maybe longer...that's just an example), you would find the kid dead with no obvious cause. The does just seem to know when something isn't right with one of their babies.

 

[Spike Jones 5 2002]

Yes it is a possibility.
If there was more than two fawns. a good possibility.
around here I seen most of the time two fawn families.
I just assumed for my one time observation.
I do not know if the other sighting were the same family.
I did see two families OR two does and fawns running around.

 

[mom45]

I've been seeing way more singles than normal here this year. With the mild winter, I was expecting more twins and triplets. I guess I'll be able to judge that better when more does start bringing the fawns up to eat/drink. A friend had triplets at her pond yesterday getting a drink.