Fawns


 One of the delights of mountain living is the emergence of new fawns as does bring them out of hiding.


Fawns are born in June when the night skies are lit by the Birth Moon, the native American name of the Tlingit nation for the June full moon. June’s full moon is also known as the Strawberry Moon. My haiku above was published by .


We saw five fawns on our drive up and down the mountain today. The first on our way into town, as we drove along the country road that follows a run (the country name for a creek), a doe and fawn dashed into the undergrowth. Later that morning, a doe and her triplets sauntered up a rarely used driveway. Minutes later, a doe and fawn crossed our path back up the switchback road, the pair posing above.


Our does and their stag partners had a prolific mating season late last fall. Fawns are being spotted all over the mountain. We have  in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Lots of information is available about these youngsters. The following site is full of .


In addition to the normal fawns, a pair of piebald fawns was seen shortly after their birth, I’m unable to share the video here, but I have a snapshot of one of the twins. Piebald (leucistic) deer are not albinos; they have only partial pigmentation loss due to a genetic mutation. They are rare in the wild, and their white coat makes them more visible to predators.

Many cultures, including Native American, Celtic, African, and Hindu, consider the white deer a . Some Native American nations revere the piebald deer as a spirit in the process of transforming to or from the spirit world and ban its killing. Some non-native hunters believe that shooting a piebald buck will curse their hunting luck, while others think they themselves will die.


Unfortunately, these beautiful unusual creatures may have . Some are minor and don’t affect the deer’s quality of life. Other issues are severe and may cause pain and death.


Do you see deer in your local environment, or are you in a strictly urban setting? Family members in Raleigh routinely have deer visits to their suburban yard. We were excited to watch a herd bed down in their backyard midday.

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