MY 2013 VAN ZANDT DIKE FAWN ENCOUNTER - WHATCOM COUNTY

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Hey folks......did any other members here have the pleasure of happening upon these 3 friendly and beautiful fawn during the summer of 2013 up on the Van Zandt Dike in Whatcom County.......?

I was just riding the roads on the lower dike when I rounded the corner and there were 4 fawn standing in the middle of the road.  They all started to slowly run ahead of me up the road and one broke off from the rest, so I stopped hoping that they would group back up and carry on.  I waited for several minutes and started slowly back up the road never expecting to see them again.  About 1/4 mile further up the road, I came upon 3 of the 4 in the road again.  I stopped the truck only yards from them and just observed for awhile.  As is fairly clear in the pics, they all had yellow neck tags attached to them.

They didn't spook or look to be scared and we had a peaceful standoff for several minutes.  I eventually opened my truck door and stepped out just alongside of my truck and knelt down with camera in hand (good hand....that is.... ).  They were all 'mewing' and quite vocal so I started imitating their calls/sounds.  As is clear in the picture, one approached me after we had established that neither was a threat and he/she actually started to nibble on one of my gloved fingers as if nursing.  My left hand was confined for several months to a rather exotic contraption designed by several surgeons at Harborview one day earlier after being airlifted there from off my boat in the San Juans and it seems that this little fella thought that my finger might just offer some sustenance.That would have been the most useful my left hand has been since being airlifted.

After several minutes of communicating in their language and entertaining other advances from one other fawn, they quietly slipped away into the brush and were gone.  Several months later, I was again truckin' up another road on the dike and saw a lone fawn from this same bunch........confirmed by it's yellow neck tag.  It also had a desire to interact with me as he approached my truck after I again mimicked the sounds that I remember them doing months earlier.  Being alone and a bit older, his natural instincts prevailed and he/she slowly took his leave of me, as well.

Yep.....I made all the calls to the various agencies in both Skagit and Whatcom counties, but no one had a clue as to their existence.  Given their somewhat domesticated personalities, I doubt that any survived that winter.  Lots of cats and 'yotes around those parts.

But........I was just wondering and more hoping that someone here might have crossed paths with these little fellas back then or perhaps more recently.

I'm obviously hoping for the best and expecting the worst, but thought I'd ask as I've always wondered what might have happened to them.

Sorry about the overall quality of the pics, but being alone, this was my first...............and last, 'selfie'.

Thanks for any info that you might have......... .

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Added the full 'Van Zandt Dike in Whatcom County' description as the previous 'VZ Dike' might not have been obvious enough.

It would be really nice to just know if anyone else had seen them back then or even since......... .

[baker5150]

With as much traffic as that area gets, Im sure they got spooked out of there.

Lots of guys go shooting up there.

Most leave their trash on the way out. 

[magnumb]

Yes they do which is why there are many more gated than open roads....... .

[sagerat]

Exactly. Expect that one to be gated soon too thanks to our "locals".

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Exactly. Expect that one to be gated soon too thanks to our "locals".

Yep..............I get so PO'd when I am finally able to find an ungated road (very rarely) and within the first 1/4 mile I find appliances, furniture, garbage, dead dogs and other assorted crap dumped alongside the road.  When I find such stuff (some practically right on the road and others down over hillsides), I know that it's just a matter of time before that road will be 'off limits', as well.

We and others are our own worst enemy............. .

[Tbar]

I spend quite a bit of time on the dike.  I never did see those little guys.  I would guess they probably faced a grim fate, there is lots of activity up there.  Lots of predators also, tons of cats and song dogs.

[magnumb]

I spend quite a bit of time on the dike.  I never did see those little guys.  I would guess they probably faced a grim fate, there is lots of activity up there.  Lots of predators also, tons of cats and song dogs.

It can be a busy place....... .  Since we are now so limited in where we can go anymore, it will not be getting any less busy, soon....... .

I appreciate your response Tbar...... .  I'm somewhat amazed that others did not see any of these little guys, especially during the few months after I saw them since at that time, they were so willing to befriend me.

Coincidentally........I saw this 2-4 day old mallard duckling (looked it up when I got home) struggling down in the bay this last week towards dark when it was windy with an incoming tide.  It was being thrown about and it's feet were above water as much as his head for most of the time I watched him/her.  It was slowly being washed and pounded towards shore as I watched, which included only large, sharp boulders and no sandy beach area.  Since I could see for 100's of yards in each direction, I immediately spent the next few minutes trying to locate the hen and this ducklings siblings.  Not a duck in sight at that time.

I found my way to the edge of the water after hiking along that rocky shoreline and after finding the longest limb possible in hopes of being able to reach this really small baby duck.  I got lucky because for many minutes this duckling always remained about 10ft. from shore due to the incoming tide being neutralized by the backwash off the shore.  I never saw it paddle.....he was just bobbin' around like a cork.

As luck would have it, as soon as I reached the largest rock where I could stand and be stable, a larger boat wave pushed this little guy right into the rock below me and left him just reachable without the need for the limb. 

I thought it had died from being smashed into that large rock as he was limp when I scooped him up.  I held him in my palm until I saw it weakly take a breath and then I headed for home.  Too late to get to the Nugent Corner Rehab center, so I got it home, placed it in a larger cardboard box, placed a heating pad under a towel and a hangdown lamp above the towel, added a bowl of water and went late night worm huntin'........ .

This duckling hardly stirred since it's rescue and I guessed that it was deep into shock.  After finding a few worms and cutting them up into really small segments, I held my guest 'Bill', for a long time in order to keep it as awake as possible.  It fought hard to sleep or die, which I'm sure it almost achieved.  I was able to get a few worm segments down him with the aid of a tweezer and that perked him up a bit, albeit, not very much.  Performing this dicey, tweezer worm feedin' act while holding this little fella with only one good hand must have been like watchin' a bad Jerry Lewis movie.  I finally hit the wall and went to bed fully expecting the worst the following mornin'.

I was pleasantly surprised to find it alive when I awoke.  It was not doin' Yoga or anything, but managed a few 'peeps' and stretches when I approached.  It was still touch and go, so I just remained hopeful.  Not wanting to move him due to his condition and knowing that I could likely afford to spend the time necessary to hand feed this duckling as opposed to a authorized agency doing so, I found myself worm hunting and feeding for 2 more days.  It seemed as if it got better every hour and we made great progress.  As soon as I felt that it would survive a vehicle transfer and had shown he could eat/drink on his own which was yesterday, I took him to the Wildlife Rehab. Center at  Nugents Corner......great people   .

The reason this all ties in is that I called this same Rehab. Center right after I had the encounter with these yearlings on the Dike almost 2 years ago.  I spoke with an Alicia (sp?) then in 2013 and met her yesterday when I delivered 'Bill'.  We had never met before, but she clearly remembered my call and the same pics posted here that I had sent her back then.

I asked her if she had any further info on those deer and told her that I was inquiring as well on this forum.  She said that she still had no idea where these deer came from or who might have raised them.  She had also shown the pics to a game agent and he had no idea either.

Sooooooo.....unless a member here has any additional info, these little fellas will likely always remain a mystery to me.  Not a bad thing, but it would be interesting to know what became of them or from where they originated.

One can't dispute the pictures and I have those to fondly look back on, so I feel lucky to have had the wonderful opportunity that I did have. 

The tagged yearling encounter in 2013 was actually a bit of a blessing and timely for me personally, as just a few days earlier than that unique and once in a lifetime experience, it was a bit of touch and go for me, as well, only a few miles apart and in that same body of water.....where I scooped up 'Bill'...... .

Again.....thanks for your response...

   

[singleshot12]

Really does seem like an odd place for someone to release tamed wildlife. Between all the meat hungry rednecks and cougars they probably didn't make it much more than a day or two after you saw them.

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Really does seem like an odd place for someone to release tamed wildlife. Between all the meat hungry rednecks and cougars they probably didn't make it much more than a day or two after you saw them.

Outside of the one I saw a few months later within a 1/4 mile or so from where I initially saw them, I also expect their survival was short lived.

Even if they weren't so friendly/'domesticated', they were also much too small and young to be released and expected to live on their own.  The picture showing them in the road shows them to be bigger than they actually were.  The picture showing the one yearling just prior to nibblin' on my gloved finger is more reflective of the true size of them all.  I was kneeling down and he/she still had to extend her neck to reach my outstretched hand.

A real mystery, to be sure........... .

[bowtechian]

Seen one of them during the late archery hunt & while I was in contact with the wa gamie bio he said that during the rut the does ditch their fawns & people find these guys & bring them to a wildlife rescue close by, instead of just leaving them be & letting nature take it's course 

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Seen one of them during the late archery hunt & while I was in contact with the wa gamie bio he said that during the rut the does ditch their fawns & people find these guys & bring them to a wildlife rescue close by, instead of just leaving them be & letting nature take it's course

That's great!!  Thanks for the reply..... .

I'm glad that at least someone saw them besides me and better yet, some 4 months after I first saw them.

That's the weird part......no agency that deals with wildlife rehab nor the WDFW had any idea that these deer even existed nor more importantly, that they were ever released.

I'm guessing that it must have still been wearing the yellow collar tag.  Did it seem scared of you, curious, etc.......?

[bowtechian]

Had the ear tag but not as weary as most I pasted up harvesting her did not seem like a wild animal

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Had the ear tag but not as weary as most I pasted up harvesting her did not seem like a wild animal

You're right there......hardly any wild traits at all.....unfortunately.

Not sure if others made the same choice and doubt that many would care, but IMHO......your choice not to take her embodies more of what hunting is supposed to be about......

Thanks again for the information and if you come across these deer again or talk with others that might have, please feel free to let me know.  I'd appreciate that.

Good luck on your future hunts.....