Wildlife Center urges public to leave fawn White-tail deer alone

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ/SW VA Wildlife Center Release) - The Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center is urging the public to leave fawn White-tailed deer alone, unless there’s an obvious trauma.

This center reports that this time of year, it gets “too many, often unnecessary, calls about baby deer,” saying, “In almost every situation, the mother will come back for her baby.”

Center officials say they “lose a lot of time and resources dealing with this problem each year. Contrary to popular belief, if a fawn deer has a human’s scent on it the mother will return and accept it.”

The wildlife center reports it does not take fawns, as 99% of the fawn deer calls it receives are about normal fawn behavior. A news release from the center states, “There is very limited rehab capacity available statewide, so please help us by not kidnapping fawns so that the ones that actually DO need help can get help.”

The center lists several other reasons for not taking White-tailed deer:

-Due to the presence of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in many surrounding counties we are legally not allowed to take deer.

-Lack of time, space, and financial restraints both for us and the rehab community.

-White-tailed fawns typically do not do well in rehab and once released they don’t do well in the wild either (70% don’t survive after being raised in a rehabilitation setting).

For a fawn FAQ section, click here: swvawildlifecenter.org/fawn-faqs/

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