Three Black-tailed Deer Fawns are Growing Up at PAWS

 

Three deer fawns have come into our care here at PAWS this summer, with each fawn's arrival preceeding the next by approximately a month. The first arrived on May 13th. He was a tiny buck that was found wandering alongside a road near Bremerton. On June 9, a young doe arrived after being found near a children's center in Snoqualmie. The third fawn, also a doe, arrived on July 16. She had been found in Tacoma, limping and in a weakened state. All three fawns have been doing well in our care and all are growing fast.  A few photos of our patients are included below.

 
This is Black-tailed Deer case #11-0693, the buck that was found alongside the road in Bremerton.  Deer in care at PAWS are taught to nurse from a bottle rack.  This decreases the chances that they will become habituated to their human caregivers.

 
Black-tailed Deer case #11-1094 is the doe that was found near the children's center in Snoqualmie, WA.  She was thin and sickly on arrival, but is now a healthy fawn.

 
The newest arrival, doe case #11-1765, is seen here resting in one of our "deer stalls".  The stalls are located in a small barn in which we can provide weaker fawns with supplemental heat and protection from the weather.

 
Once fawns are healthy, they are all housed together in a large, outdoor enclosure.  Here buck #11-0693 and doe #11-1094 are shown.

 
The deer enclosure is filled with native trees and shrubs on which the deer fawns can browse.  Here, doe #11-1094 is seen standing in the middle of the pen.

The fawns should be ready to return to their wild homes later this year.