Baby black-tailed deer appearing on mountain
Posted by Devin Manky June 22, 2018
Look but don't touch please!
Over the last couple weeks we've been seeing baby Black-tailed Deer starting to appear on Grouse Mountain. We have a healthy population of these deer, who are a sub-species of Mule Deer, and each spring the females can be seen roaming the mountain with their newborns.
For the first few days or week of life, the young are often left on their own while Mom forages during the day. You can encounter the deer lying in tall grass, or other camouflaged areas of the woods and while they might seem like they need help it's important that you do not touch. Baby deer are placed in their hunker down spots by their mother who pick an appropriate location to leave them. They are also born with minimal scent to help protect them from predators.
If we handle the young we ruin this protection, reveal their hiding spots and most likely spook the young deer to run, making it hard for the mother to reconnect with them later.
Only in extreme cases of injury or obvious abandonment should humans intervene. In these cases it's best to seek out the advice of trained professionals before any action is taken.
Thanks for helping us keep our wildlife wild! Please watch for all the young wildlife out on the mountain at this time of year - it's amazing what you can see!
