Why You Should Never Approach A Seemingly Abandoned Fawn In NJ

Despite how densely populated our state is, New Jersey is incredibly full of wildlife. From birds to bears and everything in between, you're sure to come across some sort of wildlife no matter what part of the stat you're in.

Deer, in particular, are one of the biggest occupants in the Garden State. Although they may be cute to look at, it's important to never approach them.

One of the biggest problems with deer is the fact that they probably compete with us more than any other animal when it comes to space. As we continue to build, our forested regions continue to shrink.

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Combine that with an ever-growing deer population, and that just leads to headaches on our roads. Unfortunately, there's no easy solution for this other than to just be careful while driving.

Speaking of the deer population, it's also not uncommon to see fawn and young deer during the later spring and early summer seasons. On average, New Jersey sees the majority of deer births from May through early June.

Often times, we'll see baby deer, or fawn, with their mothers this time of year. Although occasionally, you might come across what appears to be an abandoned fawn in the brush.

Abandoned fawn

I once worked on a golf course when we came across this very situation. The fawn was all alone in the tall grass to the side of one of the fairways.

One of my co-workers went up to it to see if it was OK. The fawn then got up and started following him. It even tried to feed by attempting to suck his chest.

Eventually, he hopped into his golf cart and drove away. The baby deer tried to follow him but eventually gave up since my co-worker was going too fast. At no time did this fawn try to go to us.

Where was mom?

It wasn't until my co-worker was completely away when we spotted what we believe was the baby's mom. She was looking from a distance but not coming near us.

I didn't learn this until afterward that what appears to be an abandoned baby deer isn't abandoned at all. In fact, it's normal behavior for the mother to do that so it can go out and hunt for food.

With a highway nearby, my co-worker feared the mom may have been hit by a car, which is why he went to check on the fawn. That, of course, points to the other issue noted earlier with the over population of deer in New Jersey. In this case, that wasn't the situation.

In fact, it's very rare a mother deer will abandon its baby, so it's important to not go near the fawn if you see it alone. More likely than not, the mom is just out trying to find food for them to eat.

Rare, but possible

With all of that said, it may happen when a fawn is abandoned or orphaned. Even though the odds of this are very low, they are not zero.

The best thing to do should you come across a baby deer by itself is to keep your distance. If you suspect it is abandoned or orphaned, check back later in the day to see if it's still there.

If an extended period of time goes by with no sign of mom, then it's OK to take action and notify animal control. But even then, you never want to approach the baby animal. As my co-worker learned, all that did is confuse the baby and probably made the mom fear for its babies life.

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 Sunday morning host & content contributor Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.