I came home yesterday to a husband who said, "Your services are needed."
Seems the dead doe he found in our woods the day before had had a
several-day-old fawn, that was now curled up in our mud room.  Sure, we're
overpopulated with deer, but this was a *baby*...

He had called around with minimal success to find someone capable of
dealing with it, was waiting for call-backs, and figured the first order of
business was food.  All we had was skim milk.  I figured deer must have a
high fat milk, since they cache their young, so we threw in a little sugar
(human compulsion) and melted in a little butter.  John had modest luck
pouring spoonfuls down;  the bottle was ignored.  "How does one trigger
sucking in a deer?" I wondered.

The SPCA located someone who has "done deer", so we wrapped the fawn in a
towel for the trip (small body, miles of legs).  John held, I prepared to
drive.  The fawn, firmly held and near the bare skin of John's arm and
neck, snuffled up his arm to the creases of his neck and avidly started
trying to suck.  I ran for the bottle, and the fawn glugged.  When I ran
for a refill, the fawn went back to trying to suck on John's arm and neck.

Why on earth did that trigger sucking when the smell/taste/sensation of a
milk-filled teat did not?  Was it that ol' reliable skin to skin contact??

(At the SPCA was a game warden who asked several times if we thought the
fawn had gotten colostrum, and who said they need a high fat milk - goat's
milk being a fair substitute.  At least the fawn seems to be in
knowledgeable hands...)

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL  Ithaca, NY