When I saw this little fawn exploring the garden, I didn't know what to make of it at first. When I stepped out onto the porch, it didn't seem frightened, but scampered about almost like it was playing, and then went underneath a large bush and stayed still. It seemed so small and even a bit ungainly to be wandering about on it's own.

Then I remembered that a doe had been hovering around for the last couple days, acting strangely, watching me from the creek bank, but never coming up to browse as deer usually do. I guessed that it might be her fawn and it had wandered off from wherever she had it hidden, which fawns will sometimes do.

Newborn fawn exploring the garden.    (+)

     Doe watching me from the creek bank.   (+)

I decided the best thing to do was to leave the fawn alone and stay out of the way as best I could. I didn't see the doe again until the next day when I noticed her staring at me again from the creek. I stopped working, turned the shop lights out, and watched from my workbench.

The doe finally came up from the creek, glancing over toward me often. She didn't go far when she began nosing about in a patch of high grass, and the fawn stood up beneath her. She fussed over it for a while, licking repeatedly and then led it to the creek, which is when I took the photograph at the top of the page. She fussed and licked some more and eventually led her fawn into the woods on the other side of the creek.

A week later they returned to browse, and afterwards, along with another deer, appeared fairly often. All three seemed comfortable with my presence, so long as I stayed inside the workshop or at a distance.

The last time I saw them, the fawn was about four months old, growing fast and losing the spots that were so bright and distinctive the first time I saw it. The other doe was with them again, perhaps a fawn from another year that stayed with her mother as part of a family group. I've read that a doe will often return to a spot she feels is safe and adequate to give birth, so perhaps I will see them all again in the spring.

Whitetail doe with fawn.   (+)