mother and fawn
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: 3c pa
Posts: 1,212
mother and fawn
The mother crossed thru my yard but no fawn today. Its been like clockwork for weeks 7:15 mama and fawn walk by. I saw a fox a couple days ago hope it didnt get fawn. There 2 other sets around the back and side lawn. I hope the 2 sets of twinsdont go missing .
#2
RE: mother and fawn
I hope those fawns show up. Up here I was getting a little worried to. Hadn't been seeing any fawns at all. But last night they were out in full force. Every doe that wespotted had a fawn, and we evenspotted 2 fawns that had no doe anywhere in sight. The real treat though were the 2 cubs that were playing in a tree along a state forest road. Man those rascals were cute.
#4
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 584
RE: mother and fawn
Its actually a little too early to see many of the fawns traveling with the does. They usually don’t start traveling with the does full time until mid to late July.
Many of them are still to small to keep up with mom so they still use the hider strategy most of the time with mom just coming around to feed them about four to six times every day. Often one or both of them, if there are two, will follow mom for a ways then split off and go hide while mom goes on her merry way. She will come back when it is time to feed the fawns again, but most of her time is spent without the fawns following. Each day the fawns will follow her more and more but it will still be almost a month before they follow her all the time.
I also suspect there are more does with only one surviving fawn this year then what is normal or has occurred the past couple years, at least in the northern tier. We had a hard winter again this year and that typically results in more under weight fawns that don’t survive after birth. About half of the does I checked this spring had one fawn that was much smaller then its twin. The smaller ones probably didn’t make it after being born, thus more does with only one fawn in tow this fall.
R.S. Bodenhorn
#6
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: 3c pa
Posts: 1,212
RE: mother and fawn
rsb The deer feed in my yard or across the road in the field lawn that is kept mowed
I dunno what happen but fawn did follow and feed there But i hope you are right and it is just hiding
I dunno what happen but fawn did follow and feed there But i hope you are right and it is just hiding
#7
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 584
RE: mother and fawn
There are a multitude of mortality causes for fawns and there is no question that many don’t survive to their first fall. But, it is just too early yet to get a good feeling for how many fawns each doe has at this point.
Mortality will continue to reduce the fawn numbers all summer and fall but if they make it through the first three weeks their survival rate gets much higher.
R.S. Bodenhorn
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,879
RE: mother and fawn
Predation and other forms of fawn mortality are not a problem in PA. The major reason for the decrease in fawn recruitment is the increased harvest of mature doe. It is up to the professional deer managers to adjust antlerless allocations to allow for normal fawn mortality ,since there is very little they can do to reduce fawn mortality.
#9
RE: mother and fawn
ORIGINAL: bluebird2
Predation and other forms of fawn mortality are not a problem in PA. The major reason for the decrease in fawn recruitment is the increased harvest of mature doe. It is up to the professional deer managers to adjust antlerless allocations to allow for normal fawn mortality ,since there is very little they can do to reduce fawn mortality.
Predation and other forms of fawn mortality are not a problem in PA. The major reason for the decrease in fawn recruitment is the increased harvest of mature doe. It is up to the professional deer managers to adjust antlerless allocations to allow for normal fawn mortality ,since there is very little they can do to reduce fawn mortality.