Kevin Brennan of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife would like to remind the public that this is the time of year when spotted fawns are more visible. But Brennan cautions the public that “although their heart is in the right place, their mind isn’t. [The fawns] are not orphaned, their natural defense mechanism is to sit still and lay there.” Once it is removed, it is orphaned, explained Brennan. “If you leave them alone, they have better than a 50-percent chance of survival. If you pick them up you’re lucky if you get a 5 percent chance if you get them to a rehab where they can raise them up until they’re at an age that they can fend for themselves, but their chances of making it in the wild are greatly reduced.”
If it seems like there are more deer this year, according to Brennan, it is because the deer are in really good condition. Contrary to popular belief, fires are good for wildlife, Brennan said.
And while there have not been a lot of fawn-napping incidents, Brennan feels that it is important to alert the public, “We had one [incident] last year and we just had one last week.
Technically, it was down on the bottom of the hill, but we do get the calls, and so we make a point of letting the media know. We do press releases every year out of Sacramento, but with all the deer activity that is going on, I wanted to alert people: Please don’t pick up the fawns.”