Keeping a watchful eye

It's time for the does to drop their fawns. Although this season there have been several spotted in the park, these twins are the first ones I've been able to blip. I saw them only minutes after birth when the doe was still licking them clean. I couldn't get a good picture then because momma had them pretty well concealed, and I didn't want to disturb them. About 30 minutes later I returned for another look, and she had apparently decided to move them to a more private spot. They were up on their wobbly legs, following her through the woods at a very slow pace.

Did you know that a doe will often drop its newborn fawn, and then wander a distance away? The mother has a scent which can attract predators, but the fawns do not. They are safer when the mother moves away from them. This mother had done that, but then she returned to check on them and apparently decided they would be safer in a new location, so she nudged them to their feet and off they went.

It is easier to see the little ones if the picture is enlarged.