Determined volunteers rescue fawn left orphaned on busy Innisfil road
Volunteers who rescued a fawn after its mother was killed on Innisfil Beach Road are urging motorists to report any wildlife-related accidents to avoid further tragedy.
"Wildlife is part of our world and very important to it and to us. Slow down. If you do hit a deer, immediately call police. That deer needs to be moved off the road," said Procyon Wildlife volunteer Jennifer Howard.
Howard and several others jumped into action Thursday night after hearing about a doe struck by a vehicle near Young Street.
Witnesses said it was left lying in the middle of the roadway and subsequently hit by another vehicle.
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According to witnesses, a frantic fawn was spotted circling near its mother's lifeless body in the middle of the road.
When the search party arrived, the fawn was nowhere in sight.
"They curl up and are quiet as that's what mom teaches them to keep them safe, and now the little guy was quiet," Howard described.
Armed with headlamps, flashlights, and cell phones playing doe-calling fawn sounds, the volunteer searchers combed the area meticulously.
Exhausted but determined after roughly an hour of searching through a swampy, dense brush, a volunteer emerged from the darkness carrying the small deer.
"This poor doe was hit multiple times, apparently," Howard added. "Through some miracle, her baby was found alive and is now safe. This is not always the case. And this could have ended in a terrible accident."
The orphaned fawn, named Gideon, was temporarily placed in a small enclosure at Procyon Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Centre in Beeton.
Centre staff said that as he grows stronger, he will be gradually moved to a larger enclosure until he is ready for release after the hunting season.
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