Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — While you are out and about this summer camping and hiking, you might encounter a baby deer. However, despite its cuteness, Division of Wildlife Resources officials said you absolutely shouldn’t touch or move fawns.
DWR officials said they receive calls each year from people who discover “abandoned” baby calves or fawns. However, DWR conservation outreach manager Ron Stewart said the animals haven’t been abandoned.
“If (the mother deer) senses danger, such as a human, she will leave the area in hopes of luring the ‘predator’ away from her fawn,” Stewart said in a DWR news release. “Deer fawns are born scentless. They don’t have an odor and predators can’t smell them.”
Because the fawns are odorless, Stewart said the “worst thing you can do” is to pick up the fawn or pet it because it leaves your odor on the animal, making it more susceptible to a predator. Newborn fawns typically aren’t very coordinated and aren’t strong enough to run away from predators, so they survive by hiding and camouflaging themselves in leaves and grass, according to the news release.
“The best thing to do with a newly born deer or elk is to leave it right where you found it,” Stewart said. “Don’t approach it. Watch it or take a photo of it from a distance, but don’t approach it. If you get too close, the scent you leave could draw a predator to the animal.”
Stewart said numerous studies have shown that predators will follow human tracks. So if you find a baby animal, he recommended making a loop away from the animal so the predator will follow your scent and leave the area.
