I had big plans for a wedding recap post today, but this morning’s discovery has to take top-blog priority. Our maintenance man was outside mowing this morning, when he noticed some dark spots in the grass. Good thing he stopped to check it out – there are two abandoned newborn deer out on our playground (I work at a school)! He came and got me, as I am the resident “crazy animal person” and I grabbed my camera…

They have to be only a day or two old. My pictures don’t do justice to how small they are, but they seriously look like tiny cats curled up in tiny balls – at first I thought maybe they were bunnies! Poor lost little babies. My animal-lover instinct makes me want to call animal control or wildlife, because they are only about 20 feet from a busy road. But I googled “what to do with a newborn deer”, and came up with this…

If you find a deer fawn that appears to be abandoned, remember that deer fawns are born with natural camouflage and a lack of scent. In the first few days of their lives, the newborns are not mobile enough to travel with their mothers. As a defensive tactic to keep nearby predators away from the newborns’ location, the mothers will often leave the young animals alone for long periods of time. During this crucial period the mothers will visit the newborns at least twice a day to feed them. After a few days, the fawns are usually strong enough to join their mothers and the herd, where there’s more protection.

They are definitely too young to walk, because I got pretty close to both of them and all they did was twitch their ears. They are about 100 yards apart too – not even curled up together – so sad! Here’s hoping that mama deer is nearby and keeping a close watch. I’ll be checking on them all day long just to make sure. And you better believe that if mama doesn’t come back, I’ll be camped out in the parking lot tonight!