Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Cute Whitetail Deer Fawn

By: Tom Berg

Whitetail deer fawns have their reddish-brown coat with spots in the fall. They will shed that coat and replace it with a dull grey to blend in with their habitat. Photo: Tom Berg

It seems like everyone loves whitetail deer fawns.  They are so cute, how can you help but fall in love with them?  Within 30 minutes of birth, they can stand on their long, spindly legs all by themselves.  They may not be terribly coordinated yet, but they will be walking within a few hours.  By the time they are one month old, they can outrun most predators.

Fawns are usually born between the end of April and mid-July, depending on where you live.  Most adult female deer give birth to twin fawns, although sometimes there is only one (or sometimes as many as three).  These fawns can be downright playful as they explore the world around them, and they are great fun to watch.  

When born, fawns are odorless.  That helps them evade and hide from predators.  When danger approaches, fawns hunker down in the grass or weeds and stay perfectly still.  Besides being odorless, they are almost invisible, too!  They have a camouflaged coat that is reddish brown and covered with small white spots.  The spots resemble the dappled light that hits the forest floor, and they blend in very well with their surroundings.  Young fawns that survive their first week have a good chance of staying alive and becoming adults.

Fawns usually stay fairly close to their mothers (usually within 100 yards) until they are weaned.  They usually lose their spots about the same time, too, typically in October or early November.  Once the spots disappear, their reddish coat turns a dull brownish-gray, which helps them blend-in with the dull colors of the forest during the winter.  If you are lucky enough to have a doe and her fawns living nearby, be sure to enjoy watching them then.

Tom Berg is an award-winning writer and photographer and has been a freelance writer since 1993. He is also the Executive Director of the Hoosier Outdoor Writers organization in Indiana and is a member of several other writers groups.