06/10/2026
✨For the Love of All things Wildlife...PLEASE do not pick up fawns found resting alone! Fawn season is crazy this year and even though we are an owl rescue, we receive fawn calls every year by well intending individuals that have essentially "Fawn napped". Fawns have very limited scent and are Intentionally left alone to avoid attracting predators! Twin and Triplet fawns are often left in separate locations to increase the chance of survival. Please listen to your local rehabber if they tell you to put the fawn back...( Or the baby bird..or baby bunny..) Reuniting is the BEST option and must be tried! CT fawn rescues are filling up fast and only truly injured or orphaned fawns should be handled. ✨
Fawn season has started! 💚🦌
Did you know?
Usually white tailed deer fawns DO NOT need rescue. Every year we receive multiple calls about orphaned fawns when, in fact, the mother doe hid her fawn to keep it safe as she forages for food. Many times this is in yards and gardens close to homes! It is not uncommon to find a twin fawn hidden nearby! You will likely be able to walk right up to a fawn and they stay completely still. This is a fawn's natural behavior in the wild. Fawns are born with amazingly little scent as a protective measure from predators.
A fawn sitting quietly DOES NOT need rescue!
If a fawn is injured, covered with flies or crying/ wandering around, please call a rehabber!
If you know the mother deer is deceased, please call a rehabber!
White tailed deer are very high stress animals. If you must rescue a fawn, please do not handle it more than needed to safely contain it. Place it in a well ventilated box with a soft blanket and leave it alone. Do NOT feed it. Do not pet it. Do not talk to it. Keep children and domestic pets away. Call a wildlife rehabilitator immediately.
Even a wandering fawn may not need rescue and will need to be observed for at least overnight before intervention....(sometimes fawns don't do as mom says to stay put, but mom is around).
This can be hard for people that want to help what appears to be a helpless baby but in fact, the fawns are doing what is natural.
There are VERY few white tailed deer rehabilitators in the state of Connecticut so we must only rescue fawns that truly need help!
At Freedom First Wildlife , we are equipped to intake fawns in order to stabilize them but once stable, we transfer them to a permitted white tailed deer rehabber.
Please Share this post and encourage others not to "Fawn nap"💚🦌
