Saving a baby deer

We often spot deer when on our morning walks. Usually all we see is their tail flying the white flag as they run away very fast. This time though what we found wasn't an adult but a very young fawn. We tried to leave her where she'd been tucked away, but she got up and started following us, crying and limping. 

When Chris got a close look at her, we realized she had a broken leg. We're not sure if her Mom abandoned her because she was injured or if she got hurt while Mom was out having breakfast, but we couldn't leave her (mainly because she wouldn't let us - she moved surprisingly well on three legs). But her crying was sure to attract the local coyote pack and we didn't have the heart to leave her to her fate. So he picked her up and took her to the house where we called the wildlife rescue group that is nearby. 

She's so little!

They told us to keep her warm, not offer food or water (it just gives them diarrhea), and they'd call us back once they'd contacted their local folks to make arrangements.

Keeping her warm

They called back right away and it turned out that the "local folks" are our neighbors - just a couple minutes up the road. We knew they did wildlife rehab but didn't realize that they were the ones to do the initial assessment and determine the appropriate course of action.

So we hopped in the car, took her to J and D, and they'll get her to the vet. She has a compound fracture but since she's so young they expect it to heal well. Then she'll go back to their house where she'll join the other five (!) fawns they have in the rehab section of their basement. Once she's all healed up they'll either release her back to the woods or, if she's not able to survive on her own, she'll go to an education facility.  Pretty cool that this is even possible. Needless to say, we'll be making a donation to the wildlife rescue to help with costs. I'm so grateful we had someplace to take her rather than having to do something more pragmatic. I'll just leave it at that.