HELP! Wildlife question

[JoJosMom]

I rotationally graze my horses and they have exhausted the current pasture.  I was just walking the fence line of the next pasture and nearly stepped on a fawn who was being very, very invisible ( :001_wub: ).

 

Do you think it would it be okay to graze the horses in the pasture (it's large) or is that likely to spook the fawn and/or doe?

[Jean in Newcastle]

The doe might decide to move the fawn, but I've seen pictures of deer and horses together with no problems. 

[Pawz4me]

It's not uncommon at all here to see deer in pastures with horses and cows.

[JoJosMom]

Thanks for the help!

 

In the meantime, my brain kicked in and I realized that we have a local rescue. Duh.  She said the same thing, BUT mentioned that they have gotten in two fawns with broken legs who were stepped on by overly curious cattle. So, out of an abundance of caution, I'm going to hand graze the ponies for a few days.  Apparently the does only employ the "hide the baby" strategy for a week or so, so I can be patient.

 

Next question:  How do I keep myself from going out to peek on the baby?  :001_wub:

[Guest]

Thanks for the help!

 

In the meantime, my brain kicked in and I realized that we have a local rescue. Duh.  She said the same thing, BUT mentioned that they have gotten in two fawns with broken legs who were stepped on by overly curious cattle. So, out of an abundance of caution, I'm going to hand graze the ponies for a few days.  Apparently the does only employ the "hide the baby" strategy for a week or so, so I can be patient.

 

Next question:  How do I keep myself from going out to peek on the baby?  :001_wub:

 

I would seriously be installing a cheapy security camera, some distance away of course, that feeds to my computer so I could watch 24/7.

[muttmomma]

You can go and park at the baby. Even pet it. Themomma will still come back and the fawn is too young to remember human contactc etc etc.

 

This pretty commonly done. A novel experience!

[Carrie12345]

We found one a few years back in our dogs' running area.  Once I spotted it, I leashed the dogs, but none of the 3 animals really cared.  I don't imagine horses would care much if my beasts didn't!  Momma moved the fawn by the next day.

 

Even if the deer do spook, I wouldn't consider it a big deal. Every year, I sit outside and watch mommas and babies call to each other because babies chose not to stay put.  They find each other.

[JoJosMom]

Thank you all for sharing your advice; I appreciate it!

 

Although it's hard, I'm going to stay away. The doe has the baby in a well-covered area in the grazing pasture that shares our backyard fence. It's an interesting choice; it's close enough to the people structures to discourage real predators, but it's secluded, as well. I don't want to tromp around, leaving a scent trail for my neighbor's stupid dogs to follow, since they have a history of getting out and being a problem.  :glare:

 

Looking back, the doe has been hanging around, so I think we'll know when she's moved on.  A couple of nights before I found the fawn, DD went out to feed the horses their evening hay.  She came back in, claiming to be freaked out my a deer.  After teasing her unmercifully, I went out with her, but the deer was gone.  Now, after thinking about it, I realize that DD had a point.  Mama Deer was probably making eye contact and refusing to move - very un-deerlike behavior usually, but she was trying to distract the "predator" - and DD found that unsettling.

 

We live in such a cool place! :001_wub:

 

 

ETA:  Opps!  Forgot a couple of things.  Yes, the camera idea is FABULOUS. Unfortunately, Tech Support (DH) is out-of-state on a family emergency, so won't happen this year.  As for the horses, my fear is that they might either accidentally step on the baby should they not see it or when trying to check it out. (I watched my daughter's old gelding snuffling a couple of butterflies a few days ago.  It was a hoot!)

Edited June 26, 2016 by JoJosMom

[Guest]

I doubt the horses would accidentally step on it. I guess it could happen but horses have a pretty decent sense of smell and they pay a little more attention than cows do. Unless they go thundering around racing by the brush where to fawn is I guess......The only other thing I wanted to mention is now that you know you have more wildlife than you thought you may want to make sure your ponies and other critters are up to date on all vaccinations, including rabies. We have everything from coyotes to distemper laden raccoons in our pasture. And horses can definitely have rabies- (but not distemper) i don't know of any diseases that a deer directly transmits to horses, but the critters they bring with them- deer flies and ticks- can definitely affect your ponies. Unfortunately not a ton of things can be vaccinated against, like EPM which is carried by opposums, but it helps to be familiar with symptoms in case, heaven forbid, one of them come down with something.

 

I still love the wildlife where we live but it has made me double down on my vigilance on vaccinations and taking what seems like mild illness more seriously. No more three year vaccines for us with dogs or other cases. We operate on the better be safe than sorry model because saying a vaccine lasts three years is often only valid in a "low risk" situation. (Except rabies- I think the clinical evidence there is that it does last longer than say DHPP). But at any rate- even though our dog was vaccinated up to date, when he attacked a coyote the first thing the vet did was give him a booster. So that's my friendly PSA- check for ticks. Check your shot records!