Let Me Introduce You

A lot of you already have heard about and met Baby Bambi.  But just in case you missed out let me introduce you.  One afternoon a few weeks ago a fawn wondered out of the woods in search of it's mother.  This happens from time to time.  A mother deer will wander off for a few hours to graze and then come back to feed it's fawn before wandering off again.  We thought the fawn woke up and went searching out of impatience.  So my husband took it back into the woods and stayed with it until it bedded down, hoping the mother would come back through that night and collect it. 

 the next day my son went over to check on it and it was gone so we thought for certain the mother had come back through and they left the area since they could smell our scent in that part of the woods.

But that afternoon we could hear it bleating.  We went to check on it and it was weaker than the day before and was obviously hungry.

So we took it up to the house to try to get it to eat while I called around to see what could be done.  After numerous phone calls and phone tag and speaking with park rangers at Natches Trace that is in our area, we finally got in touch with Walden Puddle in Middle Tennessee.  Oddly enough we don't have anything local capable of handling cases like this even though we are country smack dab in the middle of two large cities. And remember Natchez Trace is just twenty minutes away!  Ok enough harping.....sorry.  I just wanted this little guy to have a chance.  Life had already thrown him a few curves in the short time he had been here and no one seemed to be cooperating. 

Back to the story..... Walden Puddle takes orphaned animals and releases them back into the wild once they are ready. But they wouldn't be able to take it until Monday and this was Friday evening.  They gave us a number for a lady that is affiliated with them that could take him the next day and in a week he would be at Waddle Puddle in an arena with others just like him. 

In the mean time we had to bottle feed him and I have to say he took to it right away.  I was amazed at how quickly he adapted. 

Once at the arena the bottles get loaded into a feeder and hand feeding is ceased and human contact limited. Once old enough they are released back into the wild in a herd with at least one skittish deer that will continue to teach the others to be cautious.

Finally he's getting the chance he deserves.

He was such a precious visitor and a once in a lifetime experience!

Until next time....Kristi

Note:  a mother deer rejecting the fawn because of human contact is just an old wive's tale.  Plus after twelve hours of monitoring the fawn and proving it is indeed an orphan you can intervene.  We were also instructed after establishing it being abandoned to pen it for the safety of the fawn and also to keep it's feeding schedule regulated until it could be transported to the facility.  We tried to adhere to the laws while taking care of this beautiful creation.