SCOTT SHALAWAY Learn the first rule of conservation: Do no harm

Every year at about this time, state wildlife agencies plead with the public to resist the compassionate urge to rescue abandoned wildlife. That fawn in the high grass almost always has a mother nearby. An e-mail from Kevin Traube of Beckley, W.Va., highlights this point.
"I enjoy your column each Sunday, and wanted to share with you an interesting experience I had recently. I own the Mountain State Miniature Golf course in Beckley and was cleaning the greens one morning earlier this month to prepare for the day, when I discovered a fawn curled up next to one of the greens."
"I blocked off that particular hole to protect the fawn, and it stayed there all day, barely moving, despite hundreds of golfer passing within just a few feet of it. About the time it began to get dark that evening, a golfer playing a nearby hole scored a hole-in-one. When he let out a yell, the deer got to its feet and stumbled off into the woods that line the golf course, a distance of a only about five paces. All day long we had been hearing its mother pacing in the nearby underbrush, and she immediately moved toward the fawn."
"Had the fawn been placed on the gold course by its mother, and was it waiting for her return, or was it really too weak to move until the day had passed. Why leave it on a man-made golf course, instead of in the woods? Also, there was quite a discussion during the day about whether it would be rejected by the parent if it was touched and acquired a human scent."
What likely happened
Here's probably how the fawn came to be on the golf course. Sometime during the previous few days, the doe had given birth, almost certainly at a different location in the nearby woods. The birth site would have been dampened by the breaking of the water sac. Immediately after birth, the doe licked the fawn to clean it. That would continue for 10 to 20 minutes while the fawn nursed its first meal. If a twin was to be born, it would typically arrive within 30 minutes of the first birth. Then she would groom and nurse the second fawn.
Within an hour of the birth(s), the doe would have eaten the afterbirth. This serves two purposes. It removes the evidence of birth that might attract predators and scavengers to the scene. And it recycles the nutrients the doe has just lost. Depending on the size and conditions of the fawn(s), a doe loses up to 25 pounds of body weight during birth.
During the first hour of life, fawns can stand on their long, wobbly legs, but even a short trip is hours away. At some point several hours after birth and perhaps a second meal, the doe leads the fawn(s) to safer ground. She hides them separately so, if a predator finds one, the other is safe. Then she leaves them alone while she feeds and tends to her own needs.
Hiding out
A fawn's ability to remain motionless for hours and its camouflaged pelage keeps it safe. The doe returns to feed the fawns about six times every 24 hours. Immediately after nursing, a fawn settles back into its bed. This continues for five to seven days. At that point, fawns become mobile, but the doe tries to limit the fawn's movements for another week.
During the first two weeks of life, even just days after birth, fawns move short distances and change their bed's location. This is how I suspect Mr. Traube's fawn arrived at the mini golf course. The constant human activity would have kept the doe from hiding it there, but the naive fawn simply didn't know any better.
Finally, never touch wildlife. Animals bite, they carry diseases, and parents defend their young. Though touching a young mammal may not always lead to abandonment by the mother, sometimes it does. So where wildlife babies are concerned, follow the first rule of conservation - do no harm.