If you find a deer fawn alone in the woods, leave it there.

Its mother has not abandoned it. She is probably nearby.

Removing a fawn from the forest is also illegal. Deer can only be taken during hunting season.

Many people who come upon a solitary spotted fawn mistakenly assume the animal has been deserted by its mother. Young fawns like this have not been abandoned and are still in the care of a doe.

Human handling and disturbance of fawns can cause a doe to shy away or even desert her offspring.

Doe deer leave fawns alone for their first few weeks of life. The fawn at this age is better protected away from the doe. The presence of the doe nearby would attract predators because the doe lacks the protective coloration of the fawn, and the older and larger doe has a much stronger odor.

A fawn that appears abandoned is merely awaiting a visit from its mother.

Each spring and summer, SCDNR gets many calls from people who have discovered these “lost” deer. Young fawns are cute and cuddly, but if taken into captivity they grow into semi-tame adult deer that can become quite dangerous.

Adult buck deer, no matter how they were raised, are especially dangerous during the breeding season. Even does raised by humans are unpredictable. Occasionally, “tame” deer seriously injure people; and, in cases where the deer are a threat to humans, the deer sometimes have to be killed.

People often ask SCDNR if it needs deer fawns for its research projects. Although SCDNR is actively engaged in deer research, current studies do not involve captive animals.