Local News

Texas Parks and Wildlife Urges Texans to Stop Bringing in Healthy Fawns

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Tony Maples Photography

 

A new report in the San Angelo Standard-Times says that many people are attempting to rescue baby deer when they don’t need rescuing. Sadly, it ends up doing more harm than good. When fawns are brought in to the local Texas Parks and Wildlife office, they need to be taken to a rehabilitator as soon as possible. If no one is able to take on the fawn, they have to be put down.

Lt. Jason Huebner, Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden, said, “We have a shortage of wildlife rehabilitators and I’m tired of euthanizing. It’s not fun in any sense, it’s heartbreaking.”

Concerned Texans are spotting fawns laying in brush where it can appear as if they’re not breathing. The majority of the time, the deer are completely fine. They’re placed in brush by their mothers while they look for food. “The mothers could leave for about four hours, but will typically range out about 100-200 yards from the fawn,” the news says. So, although they may appear abandoned, they’re simply waiting.

What often alarms people who find bedded fawns is that they don’t appear to be breathing. “When frightened…The heart rate drops dramatically to around 60 beats per minute and breathing becomes shallow and slow. In this state of ‘alarm bradycardia’, the fawns usually will not move even when touched,” Tinks.com explains. It’s best to leave fawns alone unless they are in very obvious need of medical attention.