I am just heartsick. I had the dogs out for their walk and swim in the pond this afternoon. My younger one, who is usually an ADHD rat terrier mix, was very interested in something at the woods line. He was very quietly walking around in a circle looking at something on the ground. At first I thought he may have found a snake. As I got closer a tiny fawn turned and looked at me. It didn’t seem too bothered by the dog and he was licking it not trying to hurt it. (He licks the foals butts when they lay down in the field. But that’s another story) I was inching closer to to grab Deziel and had a hold of Abbeys collar. I don’t think she even saw it until it shook it’s head. That quick she had it by the neck. This dog has raised several litters of kittens, mothered puppies, doesn’t even chase rabbits but will kill a groundhog in a heartbeat. I could tell by the look on her face she knew she made a big mistake. It happened so fast. I hugged it close until it was gone and had the barn help bury it in the back field. I feel so bad and can’t stop thinking about it’s mother. Abbey won’t even look at me. We had walked by that spot 3 times before Deziel noticed it there. Do they have a scent?? It was probably born this morning, it wasn’t much bigger than my cat. I’m just sick :no:
Newborn fawns don’t have much scent, if any - that’s why they will huddle in the grass, motionless, until their mother comes by to feed it. They are safe from predators as long as they don’t move. The head-shaking caught your terrier’s attention and and almost certainly turned on the “pest control” part of her. She couldn’t help it. What a shock for you, though. So sorry.
Awwwww…don’t beat yourself up. It was not like you wanted your dog to grab it. You tried to get them away. And don’t fret too much, deer actually twin quite commonly(at least in my county/state), and chances are decent that she has another little one out there to take care of (probably in the same vicinity the original was, so be careful).
So sad 
mom will call (& look) for days 
Please leave the baby for mom to find - I’d exhume & return the baby to the spot where you found it.
That is why my dogs do not run loose during the “fawning” season.
[QUOTE=NoDQhere;7611039]
That is why my dogs do not run loose during the “fawning” season.[/QUOTE]
I am so sorry, OP, I know how upsetting that is!
The problem is, around here in NC, the “fawning season” seems to last from now, into early autum. I have seen very young fawns in October. I understand that if the doe is not pregnant, she can just keep cycling until she gets pregnant, given abundant resources. I have been keeping my eye on a late fawn from last fall (I call her mother “Jane” and she is “Joanna”, originally “John” til I realized she is a doe.) She is still a tiny thing, I held my breath that she would survive the winter, but she did.
So, I walk our hounds out on our fenced property, only under very controlled circumstances. I too have passed a “parked” fawn with the pack numerous times, it would have been fine if it stayed still, but it finally got up and ran, was caught by the five IWs I had out, but they did not seem to know what to make of it, and I was able to extract it and throw it over the fence, and it ran away, seemingly unharmed. I never found a body or saw any vultures so I hope it made it with only a bad case of PTSD.
But, that little bleating noise is heart-wrenching! And they are so beautiful, I know how you feel.
But, around here, you might encounter a parked fawn from now til October.
I agree. That’s all I could think of, no dogs allowed to run loose during fawning season. And remember, if you see a fawn, leave it alone (I realize that this one was injured by your dog and I’m sure that’s the only reason you touched it).
Kate, you need to reread and not jump to conclusions. She did not touch it, she had one dog by the collar and was inching up to get hold of the other dog and the one she had by the collar grabbed it.
Most fawns go unnoticed unless you stumble upon them. It’s part of their protection. Mom leaves them early in the morning, browses during the day, and returns toward dusk. Had the fawn not moved, your dog probably wouldn’t have grabbed it. But having said that, if you had walked over it and startled it out of hiding, the end result likely would have been the same. Don’t beat yourself up.
Mama will probably visit the area for the next few days and may call for it. Yes, it’s sad. Animals tend not to dwell though. This can be an issue when people do disrupt fawns as even if she is in the area, she may not retrieve it if she perceives danger. In most cases, she will wait and retrieve her baby, thoroughly clean it off, and move it off to a safer location. I wouldn’t exhume a dead fawn for her to find at this point, but in the future if you have another dead fawn, I’d let it lie overnight.
The only reason I ever saw the fawn was because my youngest dog was actually licking it. My intention was to grab his collar to take him away from it. I know better than to touch them. He licked it’s ear and it shook it’s head, that’s when the other dog saw movement and just reacted with me still holding her collar. She immediately back off when she realized what she had done. We have 200 acres with alot of woods and trails, friends bring their dogs over so they can run. We also have alot of deer and this is the first time anything like this has happened. The only thing the dogs kill are groundhogs.
What a rough situation for you to deal with! I don’t have any dogs right now, but my previous dog had a habit of dispatching baby rabbits, so I know how you feel.
i am so sorry. NO they do not have an odor, that is how the mom can leave them all day. Poor Mama deer.
[QUOTE=Nezzy;7612535]
Poor Mama deer.[/QUOTE]
and poor baby fawn
maybedog I’ve no doubt you meant well but hugging a wild animal, holding it close to a human is no comfort to that wild baby - leaving it to lay quiet in it’s little hollow & moving away with your dogs & watching it’s last breaths from a distance of 20 feet or so, would’ve been far more comforting.
As is allowing the mom to find it dead - she will give up much sooner than if she just can’t find any sign … though if there was blood left behind …
Not all deer are so attached but we had a mom & late baby stay close all winter, then through the summer, mom had a new baby & big sister played auntie, thereafter both adults had babies, when 1 mom had twins, all 3 babies stayed together, all 3 babies nursed on both moms. Most does are great mothers.
When a dog took a smaller twin one year, both moms called for that baby for days, then less so each day … finally giving up after 2 weeks; even the fawns called for their missing sibling, for the first 3 days they were very subdued, then resumed their games.
How horrible. Yes, tiny fawns are odorless so they can avoid being noticed by predators.
[QUOTE=Emryss;7610745]
head-shaking caught your terrier’s attention and and almost certainly turned on the “pest control” part of her.[/QUOTE]
It was the OP’s pit bull that killed the fawn, not the terrier.
[QUOTE=vacation1
It was the OP’s pit bull that killed the fawn, not the terrier.[/QUOTE]
I have no clue how or why you came to the conclusion that I even owned a pitbull.
I have no idea how you came to the conclusion I even owned a pit bull!! To set the record straight the young dog that happened upon the fawn is half rat terrier half heinz 57. The older dog that killed the fawn is lab/boxer and yes, I know her parents. I have no issue with pit bulls. Most of the ones I know are very sweet and well behaved because they have been treated right.
[QUOTE=vacation1;7612843]
How horrible. Yes, tiny fawns are odorless so they can avoid being noticed by predators.
It was the OP’s pit bull that killed the fawn, not the terrier.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=maybedog;7613221]
I have no idea how you came to the conclusion I even owned a pit bull!! To set the record straight the young dog that happened upon the fawn is half rat terrier half heinz 57. The older dog that killed the fawn is lab/boxer and yes, I know her parents. I have no issue with pit bulls. Most of the ones I know are very sweet and well behaved because they have been treated right.[/QUOTE]
Not the first time vacation1 has swung and missed at trying to accuse a pit bull (terrier!) of something.
OP, I’m terribly sorry this happened, for all involved. Sh*t happens.
Just another reason why I always hestitate to post on this forum. I may just join threedogpack and say “adios” :mad:
[QUOTE=CrowneDragon;7613423]
Not the first time vacation1 has swung and missed at trying to accuse a pit bull (terrier!) of something.
OP, I’m terribly sorry this happened, for all involved. Sh*t happens. :([/QUOTE]
I am very sorry that this happened. The doe will be fine in time, she will probably look and call for the fawn for a time but then move on. Animal mothers don’t seem to be as haunted by the loss of offspring as we think they should be.
The guilty feelings are only natural, but you did what you could do. I know my grandfather, even as an old man, was upset to think of the time he was mowing hay and accidentally killed a fawn who knows how many years earlier. He saw the fawn but didn’t have time to avoid it with the tractor. I think the “I tried not to and failed” bothered him more than if he hadn’t known it was there and only found it after mowing.
Not to make light of the situation - OP must be feeling horrified, but Nature is Nature and lots happens to the young out there, except we are not actually present at the time. Predators take the most vulnerable. They have to live too. Balance of nature.
I was so sadden when a young Mom had twin fawns - she tried crossing the road, over a ditch and then old barbed wire. One baby made it, the other was stranded the wrong side. Later, the baby’s body was found on the road, killed by a car.
We have a pack of coyotes behind us - been there for years. Each year we
judge the strength of the pack from the sounds and volume of the singing, and the amount of rabbits we have around.
