{"id":44609,"date":"2025-05-07T13:32:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T17:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=44609"},"modified":"2025-05-07T13:32:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T17:32:48","slug":"dnr-reminds-marylanders-to-keep-deer-fawns-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2025\/05\/07\/dnr-reminds-marylanders-to-keep-deer-fawns-wild\/","title":{"rendered":"DNR Reminds Marylanders to Keep Deer Fawns Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"

Handling wildlife is usually unnecessary and always illegal<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"Young

Photo by Steven Borgfeld, submitted to Maryland DNR Photo Contest.<\/p><\/div>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>Maryland Department of Natural Resources<\/span><\/a>\u00a0cautions anyone who encounters a fawn that is alone to avoid disturbing it and resist the urge to feed or handle it. Removing deer from the wild and keeping them in captivity is against the law in Maryland in order to protect animal welfare and ensure public safety.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cToo often, well-intentioned people remove fawns from the wild believing they are helping an orphaned animal,\u201d said DNR Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Karina Stonesifer. \u201cAlthough these individuals are trying to help, captivity can cause fawns to become stressed, injured, and\/or malnourished. Additionally, captive wildlife can pose human health risks and become dangerous as they mature. Please leave fawns alone so that they stay safe and wild.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A fawn alone in the wild may appear helpless but almost always they are perfectly safe. Deer are born with specialized physical and behavioral adaptations, which have helped their species survive for ages. Born in late spring, fawns instinctively lie motionless when approached by potential predators, relying on their adaptations to help them hide. Their virtual lack of odor, natural camouflage (reddish-brown and spotted coat), and freezing behavior help them avoid danger. These adaptations serve them well, as evidenced by the abundance of deer across Maryland\u2019s varied landscapes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite this effective strategy, inquisitive fawns will sometimes explore new surroundings and may appear to be lost or orphaned. There is usually no need for human intervention since in most cases, the doe is nearby foraging and will return to nurse the fawn when it is safe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If an animal does appear sick or injured, the best approach is to contact police or wildlife officials. More information on fawns and how to handle an encounter with them can be found on the\u00a0<\/span>Maryland Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Service<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>website<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyone with questions about fawns, or other young wild animals, is encouraged to call the state\u2019s wildlife hotline at 877-463-6497.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Handling wildlife is usually unnecessary and always illegal The\u00a0Maryland Department of Natural Resources\u00a0cautions anyone who encounters a fawn that is alone to avoid disturbing it and resist the urge to feed or handle it. Removing deer from the wild and keeping them in captivity is against the law in Maryland in order to protect animal  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,13],"tags":[3059,5451,5269],"class_list":["post-44609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-wildlife","tag-deer","tag-fawn","tag-spring"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44609"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44610,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44609\/revisions\/44610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}