Oh, Deer! The 'Little Prince Of The Forest' Rescued

BRANFORD, CT — Be still our collective hearts.

Many of us have seen a deer struck, killed and laying on the side of a road. It's sad. What we don't see is who is left behind. But the animal control officers at the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter have seen and in a tale that can only be described as beautiful, they saw, and they saved.

It all starts here:

Branford Animal Control Officer Dawn Buffone and animal shelter director Laura Burban rescued the fawn they call the "little Prince of the Forest."

Two weeks old, the fawn was found "dehydrated and malnourished" after its mother was hit by a car at the exit 54 ramp Saturday.

"We want to thank all the people that stopped to help us yesterday as we were trying to corral him by Krauszers. We also want to thank Branford Police Department for assisting us with traffic and the employees at Reitman Personnel for keeping their eyes open and contacting us when the baby was there. It was a team effort but he is finally safe. He is being evaluated right now and just ate an entire bottle ! He will be on his way to the rehabilitators shortly ! Thank you everyone for caring!"

And in a follow-up, the animal shelter posted a what-happened-before the fawn was rescued (heart-wrenching) and what we need to know about deer behavior.

"We wanted to post an update about the fawn and give some info about deer in general. The baby is doing good - he does have diarrhea and is still dehydrated, but he is getting fluids and taking a bottle. Considering everything he went through, he is fairing well! Typically, we ask people to leave wildlife where they are. Many times doe will leave their fawn in spots where at night seem great, but at the light of day may seem peculiar to people. The moms will come back for their babies even if it is in a weird spot so just leave them be.

This particular fawn that we brought to the rehabilitation center was going up to people in parking lots and crying for two days. That is unusual behavior. However, when the fawn would see us in uniform he would go into the woods (crying the whole time).

So under normal circumstances, you should leave fawn be, even if they are in your garden, near a business or in a location that makes you uncomfortable- the Doe will come back for them. But if you are seeing behaviors that are unusual such as constant crying, going up to people, or you know the mom was killed reach out to a rehabilitation center or your local ACO. Thanks again for caring!"