By Caleb Hutton
This is an update to another post from today.
Happy to report the baby deer rescued by a state trooper from Bellingham is doing well at a wildlife rescue center in Arlington.
“So far, so good,” said Suzanne West, executive director of the Sarvey Wildlife Center.
The 2-month-old fawn came in to the wildlife center “severely dehydrated” on Tuesday, July 10, West said. Earlier that evening, Washington State Patrol Trooper Scott Brown had responded to a deer fatality near the Northwest Avenue exit on Interstate 5. See the post from this morning for more details.
West wasn’t totally sure if the doe, killed by a truck, was the fawn’s mother. But it’s possible, she said. The fawn also had some minor injuries — no broken bones, but it may have been clipped by the truck.
Workers at the wildlife center don’t name the animals, because they don’t want to get too attached. And they wear hoods during feeding, so fawns don’t get the idea humans will care for them.
“We want them to stay wild,” West said.
If the rehabilitation is successful, it will probably take until May 2013 before the deer can be released back into the wild.
The fawn has a deer buddy to help in recovery, because “fawns don’t do well in isolation,” West said.
(Sarvey Wildlife will accept donations to help care for the fawn, West added. Further updates on the deer can be found on the center’s Facebook page.)
Here are the photos, courtesy of the wildlife center:
Thanks for the update, Caleb!
Love the happy ending. Deer are so sweet and it makes me sad they are hit trying to live in the city. Thank goodness this baby will get the care it needs!
Oh my gosh, those are the cutest fawns! It’s just like the movie Bambie who loses its mother! Aw, it’s just so sad. Bless the cop for not shooting it but giving it a good home.
When I was a kid my dad was a State Park Ranger. The game department brought us several fawns to raise whose mother’s had been killed or people who had them that shouldn’t have.
We fed them goat’s milk from bottles until they were older. They slept in the woods and we would call them saying “come on guys” (if we had two). When they got older they naturally went wild with the other deer. Only one time did we call and one came directly over to us once they had gone wild. We knew this because my dad would dump out apples for the deer and several would come at once and we called “come on guys”. Only one time did one deer respond.
It was an experience to remember. I feel very lucky to have raised deer. They are pretty special. They were pets for a while but still able to go wild when they were old enough. We did not wear hoods….
In all we raised 4 deer.
That might actually be as cute as our adopted pomeranians. I know your own pets are always cuter, but ours are the ultimate in cuteness and the fawn’s just may have broken the cuteness barrier!! That last picture with them rubbing noses – just adorable.