Fawn Gone

Around noon I looked out my kitchen window and saw a young deer with a newborn baby deer standing in our neighbor’s back yard.  She was nudging it to walk but it just sat down.  She walked away into our yard.  After a few minutes the baby put its head down to sleep.  She watched it from a distance for a while and then walked away.  I watched her wander through the trees until she was about four houses away and I lost sight of her.

I didn’t go look at it for fear I would scare her away but at 2:30 I was getting concerned.  John from across the street came over and when he heard about the baby deer, he went right over to see it.  It was still breathing but was covered with flies.  He tried to rouse it but it would not wake up. There was no sign of the mother and we agreed that it would die if left unattended.  So I went in and called the police department to find out what could be done.

The officer said they would not come unless they were going to shoot it.  So I didn’t give him my address.  He told me they were getting many calls from residents about abandoned baby deer and that leaving the baby unattended was not unusual.  He said the mother would come back after dark to get the baby.  Based on my observation of the baby, I could not see  how that was going to work.

About 4:00 I saw the neighbor come out and look at the baby.  Before I could get out to talk to him, he walked back to his house and got a shovel and trash bag.  When he tried to push the shovel under the body the baby cried.   I told him what the police had told me but we both agreed that it didn’t look good.  He said it was still alive so he would have to wait to remove it.

Close to dusk I looked out and the mother deer was walking across our yard toward the baby.  She didn’t actually approach it or touch it but was hanging around.  Then it got too dark for me to see them.

Next morning the fawn was gone.  Who took it?  The mother or the neighbor?