Green Heron & Tiny Fawn in My Care~

I am linking up with Stewart at:

Wild Bird Wednesday

(http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/)

Saturday, we took the pupcub to the park to have a nice run. 
Afterwards is as my custom, I had to try and get a few photographs in. 
I had planned to walk to the lake and check out dragons, when something much larger caught my attention. 
It was in the exact same tree where I first saw the hybrid Red-tailed/Red-shouldered Hawk earlier in the year. 
It was my first ever sighting of a Green Heron and it was quite the character. 
I spent about 10 minutes observing and photographing it, before leaving it be to what it was after...
frogs and fish and other goodies~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A week ago this morning, I had a call from my neighbor  Katie about a fawn that seemed to be wounded. 
White tailed deer breed in October and November.  If the females are not bred at that time, this can take place in January and thus some young fawns are born later than June, as was this little one. 
Katie had seen it run up into some bushes across the lane from my 2 acres, when she was walking her dog.  The doe was also near by. 
I dashed right out, so thankful I was home and saw that the little fawn, a very young fawn had what appeared to be 2 puncture wounds, quite possibly a bite. 
There were already tons of maggots down in the deepest wound and a few in the smaller wound.  I know from having seen 2 fawns die in 4 years with maggots, what they can do and how fast they can take one down... 
I was going to do my best to make sure that did not happen this time, yet we can only do so much.. 
When I first reached into the bushes the fawn ran, but was too weak to go far and it would lay down in another patch of bushes, and that is where I reached in a picked it up.  The doe was stamping around, quite agitated, and the fawn was crying, but we had to move quickly~

 

At first we placed it in a large box.  I was able to dig out quite of few of the maggots with tweezers, and yet the wound was a little deep and I needed more than tweezers to save this little one.  I flushed it several times with a saline solution and was frantically making phone calls for help. 
The wildlife person could not come for hours from miles away.  My friend Chuck guided me as best he could and told me about a pill that would take care of the maggots within 30 minutes and last for a full 24 hours with some residual affect. 
Katie to the rescue.  She went and got the pill, more saline solution, some goats milks, and a baby bottle~

We moved the fawn from the box, to a large dog crate on the 3rd floor of our home. 
I even told this to the wildlife person...make a note of this now;')~

 

Katie helped me and I got the pill down the fawn's throat and then we gave it, or tried to give the stubborn little one some goat's milk and it did take in a bit.  I continued to clean, flush out the wounds for 13 hours, every hour and the final 2 swabbing's showed no maggots, at all...yeah, it was working.

At the end of 13 long hours, I decided to go to bed and it was not long that my husby awoke me saying..."Do you not hear that?"  Hear what, I said.  "The fawn is crying." 
Oh my... the wildlife person guy who never came by the way...after calling to say he would be here within an hour and a half, called 30 minutes later and said that I sounded like I knew what I was doing and that the fawn could stay in my care, so as to hopefully in a couple of days reunite it with it's momma. 
I explained to him, that I no longer had a permit and he said for a couple of days, he did not think that would matter.
AND, he never told me that keeping it inside might not be the best option... 
Both the husby and especially me were worn out and now the little fawn was standing up, crying and butting her little head gently against the crate entrance.  I reached in to calm her and she nuzzled into my neck, she needed her momma. 
I tried to reach the wildlife person...
straight to answering machine, because guess what...
he was probably sleeping;'(
I remembered that we had been given a number for a woman who rehabs and releases fawns and I rang her up... she answered. 
She asked me a few questions and then said asked me if I thought the momma was still about...oh yes, she certainly had been all day.  She said then I needed to take the fawn to her right away.  I called my neighbor Sue next door who also feeds the deer, to come and help me.  We both checked over the wounds one more time, they looked clean.  With her flashlight in hand and the precious cargo in my arms, we walked out into my yard.  The fawn would cry, and then quit.  I had to reposition it to get it to cry as it continued to lick my face and nuzzle my neck.  I had so many emotions going, but it had to happen now and it did...within less than 5 minutes, there in the darkness at 10:30 PM, the doe appeared, blowing, stomping and she was ready to get her fawn back with her. 
13 hours before the fawn would have to have laid down only a few paces after walking.  Now, it was sure and steady as it approached the doe, who continued to act wild, like she is;') and then there was complete quiet. 
Sue kept the flashlight on them and they were going to be OK~

10:30 PM, please no more photographs, just take me to my momma;')  AWE~

 

In the week since, I have fretted over that little fawn and have looked around for it, all the while also watching for signs that it may have perished.  Then Sunday evening Dorothy who lives on the far side of my 2 acres, the direction that the doe and fawn were last seen heading, messaged me that she had seen the fawn.  Steve who lives across the lane also saw it. 
We have one doe with twins, one with triplets and this doe was the only one in our area, this season to have a single fawn...this had to be her. 
Dorothy took the images below with her cell phone camera, and they are fuzzy, you cannot see the spots, but she said it had tons, and she said that it was really small, was all alone and looked well...and I feel certain, this is our fawn and she is thriving.  She still tires easy, will graze a bit and lie down.  I know where she is most probably bedding and it is for the most part safe now. 
I am thankful for this opportunity, I am thankful, that some good was accomplished~

Here is the doe with triplets~

And here is the doe with twins~