Back for a visit

Here's DANCER on June 20, 2015

And here she is today.

A year and a half ago I rescued a very young mule deer fawn from town. Her mom was apparently killed in traffic so she came here to make sure she made it and be released. Over many weeks she thrived on Nubian goat milk and other food deer eat. Then she was taken out to a friends ranch so she could learn to be a deer.

All that hard work on everyone's part worked and she finally walked away, not needing humans anymore. Well, apparently she decided she wanted to say hi so she stopped by the ranch to do just that. Hopefully that will happen next year when she has a baby by her side so we know she's still okay.

Accident victim

It happened this afternoon near Byron. Mom was killed on the road leaving this young buck deer alone in the world. Luckily Jennifer Massey was driving along when she saw the fawn on the side of the road. She called me to see if I handled anything other than birds. I do and drove to meet her in Powell to get the baby.

The bad news is that he was so bewildered he ran off. She followed him and when he finally laid down she thought she could catch him. Unfortunately he jumped up but was near the edge of a drop-off and went over the side for some distance ending up in a shallow creek. Jennifer quickly ran down the hill and gathered him up. She held him upside down while water ran out of his mouth.

He can't stand and has trouble holding his head steady but I did get some goat milk with lactated ringers down him a hour and a half ago. Right now he seems a bit better but only time will tell. The trauma of rolling down the hill and the sudden stop at the bottom may have caused enough damage he won't recover. I have my hopes up that he will make a full recovery and be released when ready. Oh yes, his name is BOY GEORGE.

UPDATE: Sad. Unfortunately his condition has deteriorated. He seems to be having seizures and cannot see. He was humanely euthanized.

Deer update

Remember DANCER? She's the fawn I got in when she was only a couple weeks old, if that? She's now a real deer and is spending more nights away from her foster home barn. Here she in on another walkabout. She had been gone a couple days but returned. She decided to head out again but picked the wrong night, a storm came through and dumped a lot of snow. She was back again a couple days later ready for a square meal and warm bed.

Eventually she'll just leave and only show up from time to time but not forever. She's done really well thanks to her foster parents and their excellent care of her during transition to a "real deer".

Not a baby anymore

This is DANCER today, a far cry from the teeny baby fawn I got back on June 20th. She's now in a bigger place and will be completely released in a matter of days if all goes well. She looks like a deer, walks like a deer and pronks like a deer, all four feet in the air at the same time with an arch in her back.

She's been such fun to raise and it's all thanks to Laura, who sold me the wonderful nubian goat milk, and Julie who is providing a half-way house for her.

My hairy baby girl

DANCER on June 20th.

Here she is on September 1st.

The dog crate behind her is what she was transported in to her half-way home. Amazingly she fit in there yesterday.

Now that she's in her half-way home preparing for release to the wild, I can share these photos with you. Her name is DANCER and she was found on June 20th running the streets in Cody without a mom. She tried to join one of the town herds but the does would have nothing to do with her. She ended up laying down next to a house and crying all night.

The owner and a friend called me the next morning, I went right over, gathered up this tiny fawn and brought her home. I was very fortunate in contacting a fawn rescue in CA for instructions on saving the baby. They said to feed her Nubian goat milk, and only that, it's the best. The second piece of luck was when friend told me about a lady near Cody who raised Nubians and sold milk.

At $10 per gallon it's not cheap but little DANCER has thrived on it. She was only a week or two old when I got her and very tiny. I put her in a small mew with a couple mirrors for company. Sara donated a dog bed which was used constantly. Three meals a day for almost two months then two and now she's down to one bottle of milk a day. She loves Siberian elm leaves and fresh alfalfa, which she gets every day. She'll also eat lilac leaves if there's nothing else.

The plan is to gradually give her more space with views of the nearby fields. There's a resident deer herd for her to look at too. Then in a couple weeks I'll open the final gate to freedom. This is the first fawn I've raised and it's been such a treat.

Successful capture

I just returned home from a hunt I've never been on before. A gentleman called me because he didn't know who else to contact. He'd seen a spotted mule deer fawn inside a fence and it couldn't get out. Mom easily jumped over but the baby was stuck.

The worst part is that it's around 90 degrees out and the baby had been trapped for at least a couple days. When I got there the fawn was laying down next to a building and looking at the eyes it was in dire straights. Both eyes appeared infected and one ear was hanging down lower than the other one. There also appeared to be damage under its tail as if perhaps a dog had caught it.

I called one of our WGF wardens who came right over and between the three of us and my long handled eagle catching net, it was caught. Craig did a great job snaring the baby. The fawn is now in a crate and on the way to the game & fish office for evaluation. At this point I don't know if it will make it, it's too old to tame down and having its eyes treated many times during the day will be very stressful.

Venison anyone?

Those are not cows in that field, they are all whitetail deer. I used to see nothing but muleys but not anymore. The whitetail are more aggesssive and have apparently taken over this entire area. About the only time I see mule deer is when I drive through town.

SOPHIE goes nuts when she goes outside and sees all these animals in what she considers "her field". I do have them inside my perimeter fence too but they leap out whenever I approach them. Too bad the season is over with now.