State wildlife officials are urging people to leave unattended fawns alone.
Department of Natural Resources officials say does are starting to give birth to the first fawns of the year. They move very little during their first weeks of life while their mother away, relying on their lack of scent and natural camouflage for protection.
DNR experts say people who find fawns alone on the ground often think they've been abandoned or orphaned and try to feed the creatures or take them home, scaring the mothers out of the area in the process. It's generally illegal to possess a live wild animal without a license or permit. Someone can possess an injured or legitimately orphaned animal for up to day, however, to transport it to a rehabilitator.
