Short's Fawn Rescue

06/21/2026

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

06/15/2026

Hello Friends of the Fawns!

I need to put the rescue on a temporary intake hold. As soon as we can shuffle things around and make more room we will reopen.

Thank You for your patience and understanding. Have a Great Day!

06/04/2026

Well said! Spot on!

We received 127 fawn calls yesterday — this goes on EVERY day during fawn birthing season. We took in 5. At least 90% of the calls we get are for healthy fawns that do not need rescuing but people want to check to make sure the fawn does not need help! WE DEFINITELY APPRECIATE THE CALLS!
Some of the main reasons for their calls:

The fawn is super skinny and can’t stand up! Fawns are born super skinny — skin draped over bones! This is normal!!!!!! They are pretty weak and only walk a few steps before laying down for another nap.

There is no mama in sight. Doe’s give birth, clean the fawn, feed them and then bed them down. Mama will leave the fawn in an area for 3-4 days. She IS there but does not stay with the fawn!

CURLED EAR TIPS ARE NOT A SIGN OF ANYTHING, except that the fawn is young.

“I haven’t seen a mama all day”. Mama deer will only come to feed the fawn when there is no commotion and she doesn’t detect a predator. She does NOT come on command when the fawn cries — she will come when SHE feels it’s time and the area feels safe.

“The fawn is crying”. This is normal. It’s how mama finds the fawn. Mama will also call out to the fawn. Until the fawn learns the routine they will cry out for hours sometimes. If it’s been more than 4 hours it’s time to assess the fawn’s condition so we will ask the finder to approach the fawn so we can ask questions.

“The fawn is following us”. It takes about 4 days for a fawn to bond with mama. They only see her for a short time several times a day. The only thing they know is mama is warm and she comes with food. So when the fawn gets hungry they will follow you, a dog, a chicken, etc looking to be fed. PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE FAWN! You can offer a bowl of water but NEVER milk in a bottle. Also, please do not dump water down their throat!

Most of the time the fawn is perfectly healthy but always contact a FAWN rehabber to go over the signs of distress. Don’t listen to people who just tell you to “leave it be” without going over the signs of distress.

The fawn will need help if:

The fawn is on his side
The fawn has flies buzzing around it
The fawn has wounds
The fawn has deep depressions beside the eye
The fawn has been crying for more than 4 hours straight (not a sign of abandonment but it’s time to contact a fawn rehabber)

06/04/2026

Hello Friends of the Fawns!

As promised, I have an intake story that I’d like to share with you… This is truly bizarre!

On the evening of May 31st, Lapeer police received a 911 call about a deer caught in a fence. Upon arrival, they noticed the doe was not caught, but rather impaled on the fence, and a fawn had been expelled during her struggle to get free. The doe was not savable, so police had to euthanize her. Meanwhile, lying on the ground, bloody, wet, and cold, was a little fawn. His brother or sister was also impaled and did not survive.

Officer Seybert gently wrapped the baby in a blanket and rushed him over to us. We gave him a warm bath to clean and warm him. Dried him off as best we could and placed him in an incubator to rest and further warm up. He was given fluids and spent the night resting. The next morning, we gave him dilute colostrum to get his system working, and by evening, he was reluctantly taking a bottle…

Four days later, he is out in the pen with other fawns from his county and gaining strength and confidence every day. It’s a crazy story! Have a Great Day everyone!

06/04/2026

Hello Friends of the Fawns!

My sincere apologies for the lack of recent posts. Truth is, we’ve been running non-stop since our first fawn came in on May 15th. Since the only posts we made were of our first fawn of the season, I’ve got some catching up to do.

As usual, May brought several severely Hypothermic patients. Sadly, even with our fancy new incubators, once a fawn’s body temperature falls below 90 degrees, there’s not much chance of saving them. As a result, we lost 5 of the 7 that came in 💔💔💔.

To summarize May, we got 2 as a result of the mom being shot, 2 rescued from predators, 4 as a result of moms being hit by cars, 1 that was hit by a commercial mower, severing 3 of his 4 legs, 1 that kept wandering into a DNR post despite repeated attempts to put it further and further back into the woods, and 1 that was a really bizarre story that we will share separately (Stay tuned).

Thank you for your continued support. Attached is a small photo blast of some of the fawns we’ve received so far. Thank You!

05/31/2026

🦌 Introducing Our Adopt-A-Fawn Program

Short’s Fawn Rescue is excited to launch a new way to directly support the care of sick, injured, and orphaned fawns.

Through our Adopt-A-Fawn Sponsorship Program, supporters can symbolically sponsor one eligible fawn’s rehabilitation journey from intake through release.

Each sponsorship helps cover the full cost of care, $500 — including formula, veterinary support, daily rehabilitation, and safe release preparation. Quarterly, $125, and monthly, $41.67, payment plans are available.

Sponsors will receive:
• A personalized adoption certificate
• Intake summary and backstory
• Private progress updates every other week
• Photos throughout rehabilitation
• A release announcement when the fawn returns to the wild
• A special gift which will be sent upon release of the fawn and payment in full.

Sponsorships are limited and only available for select fawns once they are stable in care.

When fawns become eligible for sponsorship, we will announce them on social media.

If you’re interested in sponsoring a fawn this season, you can apply here:
https://forms.gle/5Uwfvbey2byUMqam7

Thank you for helping give these fawns a second chance at life in the wild.

Adoptable fawns coming soon!!!

05/30/2026

Hello Friends of the Fawns!
Forgive me for the long delay in posting. May has been fast and furious and we simply haven't had time to post updates and such. We will do better! Just know that the fawns come first, abd when we have a minute to sit down and take a breath, we'll get some photos and stories out to you. Thank You for your patience.

I do need to take a moment to Thank Jenny @ Jenny's Goat Milk for delivering 42 gallons of liquid gold for our babies! Thanks Jenny!

Have a Great Day Everyone!

05/25/2026

Honoring those who served.
Thank You!

05/22/2026

So proud to be working with Dr. Joe!

05/22/2026

We have a small group of females and yearlings that hang around regularly. Lately, we've noticed that at least two of the does are pregnant. We even saw one that looked like she was in labor, squatting every few feet as she walked... Well, today we saw the first baby with its mom walking along like she was on alert and moving that baby somewhere safe. So cool to watch them! Sorry, the video is really bad, zoomed way in...