The Orphan Fawn

July 27^th, just after 7 PM, we were sitting out on the verandah, enjoying the cooling air, after a humid and uncomfortable day, when a good sized coyote appeared close to the bush edge, on the mown area, on the front west side of the driveway. It walked along close to the edge, then scooted out the driveway entrance heading back to the west! Less than 5 minutes later, the fawn came running across the front of the lawn from the same vicinity, crossed the driveway, turned north and bounded along through the un-mown, wild flower section to the east of the field garden, then with two big leaps crossed the path to the compost bins, the path to the garden shed, and disappeared down the trail around the pond. Just a few minutes later, the coyote reappeared, nose to the ground and was following the path the fawn had taken! It crossed the drive in the time it took us to get up out of our chairs, yelling and clapping to dissuade it from its quarry! It turned tail out the driveway entrance, and headed back in the direction it had come from. Whew!

The coyote had the distinctly sharp snout and pointed ears, but was large, with quite a bushy tail, probably one of the crosses between a wolf and a coyote that are around here. The fawn is bigger than when last seen, its spots are fading, and it seems to be doing OK on it's own.

Today, we picked up the SD cards from the trail cameras. There is a blurred shot of an airborne fawn, obviously running, and at a camera further along the same trail, a picture showing a small portion of what could only be the coyote. The time stamp was July 27, so the coyote had been stalking the fawn before they emerged in front of us.

Last night, in the gathering dusk, the fawn casually bounded across the lawn near the bush edge in front of the house as we were sitting out on the verandah. Apparently he/she has chosen this area as his/her home.