Oh deer! The fawns are here! Keep an eye out

Everyone thinks whitetail deer fawns are cute and playful; and they are! Last week I was driving by the Kootenai River in western Boundary County when I had the good fortune of spotting a pair of Whitetail twin fawns with their mother beside the road in a grassy open area. They were only a few days old and had some difficulty in managing the terrain and running too safety, but were soon out of sight hiding in the grass and brush. The following morning I saw a single Whitetail fawn beside his mother, he appeared to be only hours old and had trouble walking and keeping up with her, but followed his mother’s lead and was soon gone from my vision, vanishing in the pine trees. I thought how wonderful it is to live in north Idaho where there is an abundance of wildlife and to appreciate their habitat.

By the end of June most of this year’s fawns are on the ground. A doe goes into estrus in the fall and usually gives birth approximately 200 days after conception. Both mule deer and whitetail doe’s deliver one to four fawns (normally two). A doe will usually produce a single fawn the first year she gives birth and then produce twins in following years.

The fawn, colored reddish with white spots for camouflage, weighs about 4 to 8 pounds at birth. There may be several hundred spots on the coat. The spots enable the fawn to camouflage itself, with the colors blending well with the surrounding natural environment. It must nurse within the first hour and stand within the first 12 hours. During early weeks of life, the fawn sees its mother only at mealtimes for feeding. A fawn generally loses its spots by the end of October of the same year it was born.

10 Fun Facts about Fawns

Newborn fawns typically can stand and nurse within 30 minutes.

Fawns are capable of walking within a few hours

Does generally move their fawns away from the birthing site within 3 hours

Does with twins typically hide them in thick cover in separate locations

Does usually remain within 100 yards of their fawns

Fawns spend 90 percent of their time bedded for the first weeks of their lives

Newborn fawns typically nurse 2 or 3 times daily; increasing to 6 to 8 times

Nursing times average 20 to 30 minutes

A 3-week-old fawn can outrun most danger

Twins are usually reunited and bed close to each other by 3-4 weeks of age.

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