It’s that time of year, and the message is the same: Do not pick up, interact with or touch wildlife, especially baby animals.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Joe Lewandowski said the third week of June is usually the peak of fawn births in Colorado, at which time baby deer are the most vulnerable before they’re able to walk.
It’s a common sight, Lewandowski said, to see fawns alone without their mothers.
He stressed the message, however, that the fawns have not been abandoned. It’s typical for mothers to leave their young to go off and feed so they have the energy to continue nursing the fawn.
Still, every year, people are compelled to “save” the baby animals, which in actuality, serves as a death sentence. Fawns taken from their environment can’t be rehabilitated, and the situation usually ends in an euthanization.
In 2016, for instance, someone put a baby deer in a car and took it to the La Plata County Humane Society. The fawn was euthanized.
Lewandowksi said the same goes for raccoons, skunks, birds and other critters. Many of these animals have no scent and are well camouflaged when they are left alone.
“All these animals have been doing this for thousands and thousands of years, and they’ve done quite well,” he said.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
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