corn

If your yard is close to a road it would not be wise to entice deer due to the danger to both the deer and vehicles. However, since there is an area near the river where you have seen them you could probably safely feed them in the field closer to the river.

We feed the deer on our hill cracked corn from the farm feed store. You can also get small stock feeders there. We fill the feeders everyday at the same time, 5:30 PM, and the deer are waiting in the yard for us. Do not assume the only deer you will have at the feeder is the little fawn. In a very short time you will have all its relatives coming in for dinner!

A more natural way to feed deer is to sow clover. My choice is Ladino Clover because it stays green all year. You can get it at Main Street Seed And Supply (link below).

No doubt there will be people posting telling you not to feed the deer, and I would agree if it is going to pose any danger. That being said, we have lived on our hill for 34 years and have created a wildlife sanctuary on our seven acres. Additionally, our surrounding neighbors have joined in with us so we have a total of approximately 40 acres as a protected sanctuary.

You can live in harmony with nature but you have to do it wisely. A final word of caution .... fawns are still with their mothers and will be for at least another six weeks to two months, so do not make any attempts to go near your fawn. Those mamas get very upset if they feel their baby is in possible danger!

Good luck with your wildlife!!! :-)

Lyn in Ohio

Here is a link that might be useful: Main Street Seed And Supply

lyn,

thanks for the advice. these deer cross a semi-busy road (still away from the main part of town) every evenning, rain, snow, or shine, to get water from the river. I think I will talk to my dad about sowing some clover in some areas we had perviously just mulched yearly. I was also thinking it would be neat to set up a bird / squirrel feeder in our yard, and a deer feeder would go along nicely with that I think.

I will take care to stay further away from that lovely fawn in the future. His mother wans't in sight oddly enough.

This time of year. Fawns will still be in stops. Very weak. Would have just been born. If this deer is about the 60-80 lb range then it is last years fawn. Very curious and inquisitive. Im thinking this is what you have hanging around. Its mother has probably given it the boot so she can raise this years fawn.

Apples. Throw some apples out for them.

A friend of mine use to hand feed them apples. Its not recommended but you can toss a few out in the yard for them.

Word of warning. do some reasearch about feeding deer. Its really not good for them. Im not going to go into specifics but generally its not a good idea. Especially those feeders. Deer are browsers. Meanign them meander throught the woods and stop for a bite here and there. If you put out a feeder then you a lot of mouths in the same spot. The chances of viruses and deceases speading Greatly increases.

If you want to feed them then please plant a crop for them to spread out and eat or leave them to browse on natural vegetation.

It is normal for fawns to be left alone by their mothers for periods of time. Here is some information:

Here is a link that might be useful: fawn info