“It’s that time of year again when white-tailed fawns begin popping up in and around our preserves. While out on our trails, you may encounter a fawn lying low to the ground, commonly in an area of tall grass or brush; or, in this case, in the middle of a trail.
Right after they are born, fawns aren’t quite strong enough to keep up with the activity level of their mother, so while mom forages and develops milk for her young, the fawn stays put. To escape predation, newborn fawns exhibit what is called “hider” behavior and can spend up to 95 percent of their infancy hiding in solitaire. Lone fawns are not abandoned and do not require help from humans.
If you find yourself fawning over fawns, just remember that while these baby animals are undeniably adorable, any unnecessary disturbance can induce capture myopathy and/or immense stress that can be detrimental, if not deadly, to wild animals. Please remember to keep pets on a leash at all times unless posted otherwise and maintain an appropriate viewing distance.
If you encounter an injured animal in one of our preserves that appears to need medical attention, please call our Main Office at 630-232-5980. Thank you!”
Have mercy if this list is woefully incomplete. The recently concluded session of the Illinois General Assembly sent a blizzard of some 560 bills to Gov. JB Pritzker for signature, so we certainly don’t know what all is in them (and most lawmakers don’t, either.)
