# FOOD!



## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

I put this under food because, well, it probably will be food for us at some point.
My boys found this fawn yesterday while we were transferring our horses to another pasture. Of course they petted it because that fur just drawn you in and MAKES you touch, of course they picked it up and 'fawned' all over it cause it's the sweetest looking thing evah! We are now guilty of kidnapping and will probably end up on the White Tail's version of America's Most Wanted. It's drinking from a bottle for me and I'm 'stimulating' it's behind to go potty cause.....I don't have anything else to do around here


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

For some reason I wanted to break out singing Disney's Circle of Life.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Shoot!!! I think it's illegal in Iowa for us to possess a deer! I gotta call the conservation office before the DNR confiscates our farm


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

The momma was nearby. Next time just leave it alone. 

If Iowa is anything like Texas the Game Warden will be around as soon as they find out.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

I know and I told the kids that. I told them the mama was probably very close by and they shouldn't have touched it. Looking at it would have been ok, but how they MUST NOT mess with any kind of baby wild animal, no matter HOW cute it is. Unfortunately with this one they had already played with it so much by the time I found out about it that I was afraid that the mama wouldn't come back. I do have to admit  there was some selfishness in the mix as well. It's a really cool experience for all of us, BUT I have a call in to our county conservation lady who will probably come out and take it  
Lessons learned, and (kind of) neat experience for all of us.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

We were cutting grain and the combine scared up a fawn. It ran right into my arms bleating like a goat. When it started bleating I saw momma come to the edge of the field. She called to it and I let it go and it ran to her. The little college here has a whitetail research project that takes all the fawns that folks "find".


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

They do sound just like baby goats! And apparently goat milk is the best milk replacement if they have to be bottle fed. The conservation lady is coming out. The youngest kids are crying and holding the baby and not wanting to let her go. My youngest son said "I'm just going to run away with her and she will be my friend forever." I told him that when she's old enough and big enough they let her go and she will find Bambi, they'll fall in love and he will take very good care of her. He said, "Yeah until somebody shoots her and eats her for supper!" 
Out of the mouths of babes.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

I know of cases of people getting in serious trouble, probably best to call the authorities. You would think they would be understanding if you keep it for a pet, often they are, but sometimes conservation officers are not "reasonable" and then things can go badly.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Can you put it back?*

I want to talk about kidnapping, but this is all I'm going to say.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Does are much easier to deal with than bucks. Buck get very agressive as they mature. Your kids got a once in a lifetime experience.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Maybe they will let you foster the fawn until they can release her.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Do yalls self a favor an tell em it wandered onta yer property, ya watched an after several hours there weren't no mother. Otherwise (dependin on the bunny cop) the kidnappin thin could really be a issue. Oh, an lock up the kids when the bunny cop show's up. Don't wan't them tossin the cat out the bag ya know.


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## Tank_Girl (Dec 26, 2011)

Let the poor thing go where you found it and let it's REAL mother take care of it.


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## Elinor0987 (May 28, 2010)

I heard once that animals in the wild will sometimes disown their babies if a human handles it and leaves their scent. It's probably a good thing that you took the fawn because it looks too young to survive on its on. The upside to all of this is that at least you had a better experience with a wild animal than some of us. Every time they come near me I feel like I'm stuck in a Far Side cartoon and the animals have taken over.


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## Tank_Girl (Dec 26, 2011)

Elinor0987 said:


> I heard once that animals in the wild will sometimes disown their babies if a human handles it and leaves their scent. It's probably a good thing that you took the fawn because it looks too young to survive on its on. The upside to all of this is that at least you had a better experience with a wild animal than some of us. Every time they come near me I feel like I'm stuck in a Far Side cartoon and the animals have taken over.


Not true in this case.





Shows an entire research team ear tagging and handling a wild fawn.

And then it's release.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Tank_Girl said:


> Not true in this case.


They are wearing gloves.

My experience from working with feral cats they can move past the latex smell but not the "human" smell. But then deer are different than feral cats.


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## Elinor0987 (May 28, 2010)

Tank_Girl said:


> Not true in this case.


Oops! I forgot about the research teams.


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

I bet that back strap is real tender.

Figured I'd be the jerk and say it first


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## Tank_Girl (Dec 26, 2011)

CrackbottomLouis said:


> I bet that back strap is real tender.
> 
> Figured I'd be the jerk and say it first


That hide would make some real purdy moccasins! vract:


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Ok, so we had a family meeting and decided that it indeed was better for baby to be with mama. It had been a selfish decision to take her home and I was just as guilty as everybody else was.  She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and we COULD have raised her as she was drinking 6 oz. of goat milk every 2 hours, BUT it was still better to at least try to return her to her mother. 
We took her back to the pasture Tuesday night and saw mama, or what we thought could be her mama, in the vicinity. My hubby carried baby into the tall grass in the general direction of where mama was and baby was crying a little bit, which was good. We wanted mama to hear her. When he got close enough to see the mother, but far enough to run if he had to, he put the baby down and walked away. The mother was snorting and pawing the ground, so she must have known that it was her baby. The baby and mother found each other and mama started licking her and then they walked away together. Yesterday morning hubby went to check and they were together and last night they were together too. So it appears as if they're ok and baby will be fine.


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## razorback (Jul 17, 2012)

Does are very forgiving critters, they will even take over mothering of anothers fawn. 

It's sad but they even have a doe call that's a fawn's distress call. On the video they had two young boys sitting on the ground using it. The doe just about ran them over trying to get to the baby in trouble. Saddest thing ever =(


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

lazydaisy67 said:


> Ok, so we had a family meeting and decided that it indeed was better for baby to be with mama. It had been a selfish decision to take her home and I was just as guilty as everybody else was.  She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and we COULD have raised her as she was drinking 6 oz. of goat milk every 2 hours, BUT it was still better to at least try to return her to her mother.
> We took her back to the pasture Tuesday night and saw mama, or what we thought could be her mama, in the vicinity. My hubby carried baby into the tall grass in the general direction of where mama was and baby was crying a little bit, which was good. We wanted mama to hear her. When he got close enough to see the mother, but far enough to run if he had to, he put the baby down and walked away. The mother was snorting and pawing the ground, so she must have known that it was her baby. The baby and mother found each other and mama started licking her and then they walked away together. Yesterday morning hubby went to check and they were together and last night they were together too. So it appears as if they're ok and baby will be fine.


Thank you for the update. I'm glad mom and baby are back together. I'm sure mom was glad her little one wasn't starving as we all know you took great care of her.
:flower:


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

I love happy endings.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Finally! Offensive post here!*



lazydaisy67 said:


> Ok, so we had a family meeting and decided that it indeed was better for baby to be with mama. It had been a selfish decision to take her home and I was just as guilty as everybody else was.  She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and we COULD have raised her as she was drinking 6 oz. of goat milk every 2 hours, BUT it was still better to at least try to return her to her mother.
> We took her back to the pasture Tuesday night and saw mama, or what we thought could be her mama, in the vicinity. My hubby carried baby into the tall grass in the general direction of where mama was and baby was crying a little bit, which was good. We wanted mama to hear her. When he got close enough to see the mother, but far enough to run if he had to, he put the baby down and walked away. The mother was snorting and pawing the ground, so she must have known that it was her baby. The baby and mother found each other and mama started licking her and then they walked away together. Yesterday morning hubby went to check and they were together and last night they were together too. So it appears as if they're ok and baby will be fine.


I am glad that you finally came to your senses. Once in a while I read that people do stuff that hurts themselves, or their family. This is different. I could not believe this when I read about it.

Yes she was beautiful. But what about your children? Are they beautiful? What if someone else decided they wanted them and took them for their own gratification? What gives anyone the right to take what is not theirs, just because they like it and they can? I think prisons have many people who think like this.

I hope to God you and your children have learned a lesson from this.

I am sorry to be offensive, but as a mother, this whole thing was not good. Animals are animals, and we benefit from them everyday. But life is life. One thing that I thought about was that out there was a lactating doe who had the best milk for the doe, better than goat's milk. And if you raised it to be a mature doe, would you be able to slaughter it for food. This would now be like slaughtering one of your children.

Imagine losing one of your children. I know women who had to be institutionalized when they lost children.

And the other thing that bothered me was that few people said little about this. Some thought it was a joke. I was so angry, I couldn't post. All I could think about was kidnapped children and this stolen doe.

After my daughter was born, as a premature infant who we didn't know if she would make it, I spent the rest of that spring and summer being in awe of all the newborns in the world, colts, ducklings, puppies, kittens. The renewal of life is an awesome thing. We have to teach our children how to honor and respect that, because if we don't, who will?


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

weedygarden said:


> I am glad that you finally came to your senses. Once in a while I read that people do stuff that hurts themselves, or their family. This is different. I could not believe this when I read about it.
> 
> Yes she was beautiful. But what about your children? Are they beautiful? What if someone else decided they wanted them and took them for their own gratification? What gives anyone the right to take what is not theirs, just because they like it and they can? I think prisons have many people who think like this.
> 
> ...


Jeez take a pill sister!! Its a damn deer, not a baby. Deer get run over and shot all the time so having her over to spend the night isn't a huge deal. My daughter loves the wild bunnies all over here and if she managed to catch a baby I would let her keep it. Its only a critter!


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

weedygarden said:


> I am glad that you finally came to your senses. Once in a while I read that people do stuff that hurts themselves, or their family. This is different. I could not believe this when I read about it.
> 
> Yes she was beautiful. But what about your children? Are they beautiful? What if someone else decided they wanted them and took them for their own gratification? What gives anyone the right to take what is not theirs, just because they like it and they can? I think prisons have many people who think like this.
> 
> ...


Ok, seriously? It's an animal. It's not a human. That needs to be established loud and clear right away. For that matter, we had seen a dead doe in the ditch about 3 days before we found the fawn so the thought did cross our minds that it could have been her mother. Would it have been better to leave her there to starve or get eaten by the coyotes? We took a chance by taking her not knowing if the mother was alive or dead. It just so happens that she was alive and all is well, but if she had been dead we would have brought the fawn back home and raised her, and probably slaughtered her in the fall.
Killing an animal for food doesn't bother me in the least. I've taught my children how to butcher chickens, goats, pigs, and ducks and yes, deer. We eat meat, we don't just look at it. And you're right, we do benefit from animals every day. Every day when I put meat on the table, which provides my children with valuable protein and nutrients. I raise my own meat so I know what's in it. It's treated VERY WELL under my care and is healthy and happy while it's alive on this farm.

The second thing I'd like to say is that when I make mistakes at least I admit to them, we talk it over and I say I'm sorry, which I believe I effectively did in this situation. If I want your advice I'll ask for it, otherwise back off.


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## gabbyj310 (Oct 22, 2012)

I think it's only "natural" to want to LOVE ,pet and have any baby animal..Which is a GOOD thing for children to learn and have that natural feeling.Once you as a parent thought of what was best for the little fawn,I'm sure it was hard to let it go...still what a expereance for the children all around.....They learned to let something go back to the wild,they learned about a baby needing a mom,and even though they wanted to keep it,this was the RIGHT thing to do...Many morale issues and the right choices. were made..Lesson learned all around.No harm no foul


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

weedygarden said:


> I want to talk about kidnapping, but this is all I'm going to say.


9 times out of ten, once you handle a fawn the mom will not take it back. The same thing happened to us a few years back. While cutting hay a fawn was found and before I could stop the kids (and a few of the grown ups  they had it in their arms ... petting, loving and hugging. The mom was at the edge of the woods, but would not take the baby back. (I did try)

But once in a while you will find a mom that will take the baby back. Not often ... but once in a while.

Love the picture ...  (It is so hard to keep your hands off them.) Well till ... they help themselves to the garden, the new apple trees planted or the number of other things they can get into. lol


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

weedygarden said:


> I want to talk about kidnapping, but this is all I'm going to say.


Dang ...

Did I miss the whole point you made.  And also have to ask ... seriously ...

Wow, not sure what to add other than crap happens ...


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Here's another wild baby animal story for you, Weedy. Oh the critters that abound around me! Three baby racoons have lost their mother. We've been watching them peek at us from their hole in the tree for several days now. They're so cute. Mama either can't or won't come to them because my dog has figured out where they are and sits under the tree all day and all night. Silly animal So glad I'm such a responsible nature watcher now. I used to be the kind of person who would help in a situation like this, but not anymore. I'll just leave them alone and look at them.
Unfortunately, one fell out of the tree today. But I remembered what you told me about touching wild animals so I didn't touch it at all, I just watched while my dog ate it. We had a funeral. If I had been an irresponsible person I may have intervened and put the babies into a safe cage where predators couldn't get at them and fed them so they wouldn't slowly starve to death. But no, I'm a WATCHER of nature now. I estimate with as young as they are it will probably take about a week before they die of starvation. I'll let you know when they're dead. :rantoff:


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Take a deep breath ...

It is time to instruct, school, drill, indoctrinate ... 

Some folk don't understand county life.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Glad it worked out fer yall. Just onea them life lessons. 

Ain't nothin wrong with carin fer critters. Just when a bunny cop gets involved ya don't know whicha way there gonna run with it. It ain't worth gettin tossed inta jail fer havin a concious an a heart. Shouldn't be that way, but sometime is.

All we can do be try our best.


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