I came across these tiny little deer tracks this morning. They obviously belong to a fawn, which is probably only two or three weeks old.
Here is the track next to AA battery to give you some idea about scale:
I scouted around a bit to see if I could find the fawn. The does leave their fawns in the undergrowth, where they lie still. Their dappled coats are very hard to see in the undergrowth, a feature to which I can attest. I few years ago I nearly stepped on a fawn that was lying close to the ground in front of me.
Because I had the dog with me, I didn’t spend a lot of time looking around. Dogs that come near where fawns are lying are very likely to be attacked. The does here are very protective of their fawns. Coyotes are always lurking about in search of them, and the does that aren’t good at protecting their young won’t likely have any offspring survive to carry on their genes.
My favorite encounter with a doe and her fawn was at Shenandoah National Park, where I was able to capture both running through Skyline Drive one after the other ahead of our car. Luckily, my wife was driving and I was playing with my camera.
When a black bear did the same, I wasn’t that lucky.