Deer Tale

[Chuck52]

I've been complaining lately in various threads about deer eating my garden, so I thought I'd post something more positive about @#$%^ Bambi:

I was out watering the weeds growing where my edible plants used to be Saturday morning when I heard what I first thought was some kind of bird down near the mudhole that used to be a pond before the current solar onslaught. I looked in that direction and saw a large doe looking at me and making a snorting or huffing noise. She proceeded to stamp her front feet several times and snort at me several times, making me think she was complaining that I was keeping her from her breakfast, though there was really little left in my former garden for her to eat. After we stared at each other for a while, she turned and bounced off into the woods, and I continued to water the weeds. I thought it odd that a doe would bahave thusly, and thought perhaps it was an antlerless buck challenging me, but my mighty hunter son-in-law told me it was more likely a doe because so large a buck would have antlers this time of year. Late that afternoon, my boy was walking the fence line near where the deer had stood and found a fawn hung up in the old wire fence by one hind foot. When we got close, it thrashed so hard I was afraid it would rip its leg off. It really looked like the wire had cut down to the bone and that the leg was dislocated at the hip, so I thought I might ought to put it out of its misery. However, I have only a 22 rifle that hasn't been fired in years, and if I have ammo I don't know where it might be. So, I decided to cut the wire and see if it could move off on its own, which it did, though in a three-legged way. I then spent the rest of the evening thinking that I should have put it down somehow, or called the neighbor on whose property it was to do so with some of the heavy artillery he and his boys periodically blast away with down by his lake, but in the end I did not. The next morning, I was out again admiring the weeds in my former garden when the doe reappeared and repeated her performance, stamping her feet and snorting at me. This time when she turned to bounce away, a fawn came out of the woods and followed her back in. Now, this fawn did not limp at all so far as I could tell, and I can't be sure that either the doe or the fawn were the same as those of the previous day....a deer is a deer, a fawn is a fawn, and we have deer out the wazoo around here, but there's nothing obviously dead in the field near where the first fawn struggled away. So now I'm left to wonder....was this a Lassie moment, with the doe asking me to help her fawn and then thanking me? Next year should I plant even more deer food and become a patron saint of all deerdom?

Chuck

 

[8NTX]

I am no deer hunter and by no means a deer expert. But on our acreage in the woods we tend to run across a lot of deer. We have had does act this way towards us when they have a fawn with them. It seems to be more of a protective measure - a warning to keep your distance. But if it gives you the warm fuzzies to think of it as a Lassie moment ... maybe it really was! My wife tries to follow them when she sees a small herd of them walking through to the spring. She is convinced that she spiritually connects with the deer. But I keep the rifle handy anyway.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

The doe was trying to figure out what you were. She probally couldn't smell you as the wind might not have been blowing in her direction. By stomping and snorting she was trying to get you to move so she could figure out what you were. As for a deer being a deer that is not true. It is like saying a dog is a dog as all animals have different looks and personalities. Most people think all deer look identical because they are not around them much and when they do see them it is usually from a distance. All deer have different markings and faces. Some have long faces while others have short faces. We have one deer who has a square appearance to her face who we call Sherry. The little fawn that was hung in the wire should be ok if it tied back up with his mother as his wound should heal as we have had worse heal. His only problem might be how long was he stuck in the wire. If he was stuck for too long he might have used all his energy and been caught by a predator or the stress from being caught might be enough to do him in. Either way it was better to let him go and give him a chance then to put him down as leg injuries are not too severe for deer. Take care.

 

[beenthere]

I have experienced this behavior from deer (over almost 40 years of hunting deer), usually a doe, when they want you to move or want something nearby to be warned that you are there. Likely it was the fawn the doe was trying to warn. They seem to stomp there hoof on the ground when they know there is danger. This behavior seems to fit with your conclusion and you being in her salad bowl, with the fawn caught in the fence, and the fawn with her the next day.

In Wisconsin, shooting that fawn out of season for ANY reason, including humane treatment, is not tolerated by the law. It includes putting deer/car injuries, although a police-type can do it (now that has brought about some hilarious action watching policemen try to shoot and hit a wounded animal with their pistol at night!). Talk about the keystone cops. That's not to imply that I could do any better.

Now with the CWD elimination (eradication of 25,000 deer), many of these rules are out the window, including USDA "sharpshooters" shooting from the roads at night with lights. Hmmmm? Wonder why this practice used to be so unsafe and against the law.

 

[Mosey]

That fawn you rescued will come back next year and eat your sweet corn, lettuce, carrots, etc. You did the right thing though. There was a post here a while ago about a device that shoots water at anything that comes near a garden. Might be worth a try, search for "electronic scarecrow" or "scatmat".

 

[Chuck52]

Ah! Next year! The garden will be protected by some means, and I'll also provide for easier irrigation. This current hot dry spell has done in what little escaped the deer, though the okra and peppers seem able to survive. After freeing the fawn, we noticed that there was no blood on the wire, so the injury was probably not as bad as I first thought. It sure looked like the hip was dislocated however. I think the Missouri state conservation department may be a bit more lenient about landowners dealing with deer than in some states. Though I did not call them to seek permission to shoot the deer that were eating my garden, I have heard of other landowners getting such permission. Since I don't eat venison, I'll work out a better way to keep them at bay. The water thing might work, but I might have to run a better water line to the garden to get enough pressure to make it effective.

Chuck