We went camping in Mazama this weekend and as we were driving away from our end-of-the-dirt-road campsite we surprised a family of deer as they were crossing the road.
There were three little fawns that were probably just born judging by how small they were and how difficult it was for them to walk around. One of them lied down as soon as he saw the car and stayed there without moving. Being completely helpless it's their main survival strategy: stay still and try to blend in the landscape. It works great if they can do that before a predator spots them. Otherwise, not so much.
We stopped the car and waited to see what would happen. After a couple of minutes the mom decided it was time to get the little fawn off the road so she nudged it to get back up.
In the meantime, the other two siblings were trying to make sense of it all from the other side of the road.
We started the car again, hoping we could get closer to them without them scampering too far into the bushes. Not surprisingly, the same fawn lied down again just on the side of the road as we approached. It stayed remarkably still, not even blinking. Only after a couple of minutes did the fawn's nose start to move.
I know of people who have even petted them. They really won't move!However, last year we also saw a deer stomp the heck out of a dog that got too close to her fawns. She kept on chasing it and pouncing on it while it yelped in pain. So we stayed in the car even though the mom didn't seem that worried about us right then. ;-p
The fawn only started to move after we left and we just got this last shot as he disappeared into the bushes with the rest of its family.
Good luck little ones!
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