Three fawns inspire many questions
- John Lorson: The Rail Trail Naturalist
- August 22, 2023
- 391
When I first began teaching photography many years ago, one thing that I always emphasized to my students was that you can’t capture an image if your camera is at home in the closet. The assignment was this: Carry a camera with you everywhere and you’ll be amazed at how many shots present themselves.
Fast-forward to the present day and it’s is rare for a person to not have a camera in their pocket at all times. The opportunities are many, but you’ve still got to be quick on the draw at times. My smartphone/camera lives in the right back pocket of my cycling jersey during much of my time outdoors. It’s an easy reach even while I’m in the saddle, but I still miss more great photos than I make.
All of this is to say that I felt triply lucky a few evenings ago when, as I was hammering out a few laps on a local mountain bike trail, I rode into a scene that held together just long enough for me to get the shot. A pair of fawns had stepped into the clearing ahead of me and just as I reached for my camera a third bounded into view. Deep black eyes the size of cue balls and enormous ears seemingly borrowed from an oversized Easter bunny, the three stopped dead still for one or two clicks before bouncing off to the edge of the field where each snapped to a halt as if they’d come to the end of an unseen leash. Momma deer had given a grunt and playtime came to an abrupt end. She stepped into the clearing as the largest white-tailed doe I’d ever seen.
For the rest of the ride I wondered about the relationship. Did all the fawns belong to that single doe? How common are triplet births in white-tailed deer? How rare is it that all three have survived to nearly the end of summer?
Fortunately for me, and everyone else invested in the health and well-being of the white-tailed deer, there’s a wealth of information out there — much of it generated by state wildlife agencies and nonprofit conservation groups.
It turns out that while singular and twin births are by far the most common, somewhere between two and eight percent of white-tail births result in triplets. As to the possibility that momma dear had adopted an orphaned fawn, it’s possible but not probable. Adoptions are statistically much rarer than triplet births for white-tailed deer.
The more surprising aspect of seeing the whole gang together in mid-August is the fact that with fawn mortality rates at around 65 percent, the odds of all three fawns making it to late summer alive is around 1 in 120. Mom’s age and experience along with ample food availability, low predation pressure and limited exposure to vehicular traffic all play huge roles.
What can be said of this doe in particular is that she had definitely been around for a while and was wise to the idea of imminent danger. She sized me up and presumed that a man on a bicycle was at least a bit less dangerous than bounding off into the rough in three separate directions. I was thankful for her summation.
Remember, if you have comments on this column or questions about the natural world please write The Rail Trail Naturalist, P.O. Box 170, Fredericksburg, OH 44627 or email John at jlorson@alonovus.com. You can also follow along on Instagram @railtrailnaturalist.