JOURNAL: Fawn births

After a gestation period of 196 to 213 days, most fawns are born in late May and early June.

As the time of birth arrives, the doe lies down. Her body strains and movements aid in her labor. In a normal birth, the forefeet of the fawn appear first, followed quickly by the head. The entire birthing time requires from 10 to 60 minutes.

A doe giving birth the first time will usually have one fawn. From then on, twins will be most common, and triplets also occur often. At birth the weight of a fawn is about 7 pounds.

Mothers vigorously lick their newborn young with their rough tongues. This washing process tries to imprint the doe with the particular odor of her own young, enabling her to distinguish them from other fawns.

In addition, during the first few days of a fawn's life, the doe stays away as much as possible to prevent her own body scent from giving away a fawn's location. She does return to nurse her young up to 10 times in a 24-hour period. After a fawn nurses, the doe makes it lie down, and she goes off to eat a variety of plant material, mostly leaves and twigs.

Fawns usually remain with their mothers through their first winter.