Fawn number 2 (the difficult one)

I've been checking the garden every morning for additional fawns like the one from the other day. Yesterday morning I found one:

It was in my neighbor's fenced garden in the corner facing my yard, looking a bit exposed. Easy location to photograph so I took advantage. Little did I know that I'd be spending a lot more time with this youngster later in the day...

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Here's where it spent most of the day, in the southeast corner:

The deer usually walk on the other side of that back fence, so it makes sense that the fawn would stand lookout here -- mom would come from this side.

After snapping more photos of irresistible fawn fur...

...I went back inside.

An hour or two later, I heard crying. I went out and the fawn was pacing. I took a short video:

The mom was nearby, but apparently could not remember how she had gotten inside the fence the previous night, and baby was now "trapped".


Not too long later the crying stopped, and when I went back out to take a look I couldn't see the fawn. I assumed that mom had figured out that the gate was open and had escorted the little guy (girl?) out.


Early evening arrived and the crying started again -- the fawn was still out there! This time I actually saw mom walk along the fence and her child followed her, but when she got to the end the gate -- which faced west -- confounded her again.

When I saw her walk off into the woods I felt like I had to help. Surely I could coax the fawn through  the gate and into the trees where mom was waiting? So into the garden I went, slowly, gently talking to the fawn.

Of course it headed right into the blackberry thicket...

...more than once...

...but I eventually got it near the gate, where it then got tangled in the tomato cages:

This is the point at which I was considering picking the little guy up, but not wanting to panic it I instead just stroked it a bit to calm it down. To be honest it was pretty calm already, or was that just exhaustion?

I finally got cages and fawn separated, and made a bit of a barrier to encourage it to find the gate:

This plan couldn't fail!

When I saw it jump over this obstacle and head back to the thicket (fail!), I knew I'd have to do something more drastic. Since my neighbor was not at home at the time and wouldn't be until later that night, I texted him, asking if I could remove one of his fence panels to create a door that neither babe nor mother could miss. He gladly gave me permission:

You can see the fawn in the lower right corner of that image.

I then left it resting for the evening and went inside.

It was tired and probably stressed out -- we both were!

I went out and checked on it once more before it got dark, as I saw four or five deer moving over from my yard into that area. I knew the mother was alone when I saw her earlier so was worried that these deer might not react well to a strange fawn -- I don't know how deer society works but I assumed this was a bunch of young males, and that means trouble, right?

Of course they went directly into the gaping hole in the fence (scaring away a woodchuck who was also taking advantage of the easy access -- sorry John!) but they left the fawn alone.

This morning the fawn was gone, so I'm hoping the story has a happy ending.


I'm not sure that I want to do my morning fawn search again today...


I think that was the first time I had ever touched a deer! I wonder if it will remember me?

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