Williams Lake conservation officers are imploring the public to leave fawns alone if they discover them in the wild.
Sgt. Jeff Tyre of the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said officers returned a fawn to the area from where it was taken from Saturday morning, hoping it will reunite with its mother.
“We need people to leave fawns where they are,” Tyre said, noting it is normal behaviour for does to leave their young in the forest while they forage, coming back just to check on them and feed them periodically.
“We don’t want people to pick them up.”
Tyre asks the public if they find a fawn to give it 48 hours for the mother to return before stepping in and calling the COS. The only exception to that rule would be if a doe was killed on the highway and a fawn was found.
“Then by all means, let us know and we’ll get that fawn into a facility.”
Tyre also hopes for the next month the public will stay out of areas where deer may have young, as the COS is receiving reports of aggressive behaviour of mothers protecting their fawns.
“Change your patterns, keep your dogs on a leash and close to you and stay out of areas you know there are does,” he said. “We do want to know if a doe has made contact with someone but we are very reluctant to put a doe down when she is has a fawn.”
