Tuesday morning my cell phone went off with an incoming call from my brother Chris. He was not connected when I accepted the call. Curious as to what he might be calling about, I immediately returned the call and he answered, but was quite energized. He said, “I am with a wounded fawn and a coyote is circling. Can you call the Environmental Police? I am behind my house!”
After hanging up, I ran into the house to get the emergency number to contact an EPO, which is in the MassWildlife law abstracts. The 800 number was answered by an automated message instructing me to leave a message. There was a second emergency number and that one was called, with the same result.
Since my brother lives in Athol, I called the Athol Police and spoke to the dispatcher, explaining what was going on and stating that I had been unable to contact the Environmental Police and asked if she could contact them.
Her immediate response was professional and efficient as she told me she would contact a patrol officer and animal control and asked for Chris’ cell number. It took me a few minutes to get underway, as when he called, I was in the middle of re-carpeting the bunks on my boat trailer and was using the tailgate of my truck as a work area. Once things were put aside, it was off to South Athol.
Arriving at Chris’ house, a shout was answered and he was in the woods a short distance away. The animal control officer was already there and she had reached out to the EPO on duty and was waiting for a response.
The fawn was badly injured and struggled unsuccessfully to stand. It was bleeding from the mouth and ears and also had wounds on its backside. In time, the EPO responded and when briefed on the circumstances, his response was the “party line” which is to “let nature take its course.”
That is ultimately what we all need to accept, as difficult as it is. We all want to intervene at the highest level possible. Nature is a system where predators and prey exist together in balance, where young predators and young prey species are born every spring, and as time progresses, some of each survive. When conditions play out, the populations are ultimately determined by a number of variables, but mostly food and basic habitat conditions.
Overall, whitetail deer are doing very well and in many parts of Massachusetts, the deer numbers are growing sharply and exceed optimum carry capacity. Fawn mortality is a constant and there was a Massachusetts fawn mortality study done in the Berkshires, which indicated that black bears were the number one predator of fawns, with coyotes and bobcats close behind. Whitetail fawns have a number of instinctive survival mechanisms, but nothing works all the time. Nature can be harsh.
Now is a good time to get in some shooting and the Orange Gun Club and Petersham Gun Club have regular trap shooting and Petersham has sporting clays on Sunday mornings. After becoming a member of the Franklin County League Sportsman Club, this writer has tried to do some skeet shooting. It is an interesting group and skeet, to me, is a good way to get ready for upland bird hunting. Any shooting now – rifle, shotgun or bow – will help you get ready for the fall hunting seasons, which will be here before you know it.
Meanwhile, trout fishing at local waters has been quite good. Both shore fishermen and those fishing from small boats and kayaks have been enjoying good fishing, as water temperatures have been quite cool for summer, which is good for trout.
Quabbin fishing has been good as well, as smallmouth fishermen are doing well and lake trout and landlocked salmon have been hitting for the trolling crowd. Local bass fishing has also turned on and this past weekend, my daughter Jillian “kicked my butt” while we were fishing off the dock, as she landed a number of nice bass while my total was two small ones.
We were dock fishing because the boat is “waiting for a part,” the familiar words boat owners hear all too often. In this case, rough running led to a tune-up of the usual parts for an inboard/outboard, but ultimately, it looks like a very expensive fuel sensor was the problem and it was five days shipping. Oh well! Hopefully everything will be fixed and running for the Fourth.
Mike Roche is a retired teacher who has been involved in conservation and wildlife issues his entire life. He has written the Sportsman’s Corner since 1984 and has served as advisor to the Mahar Fish’N Game Club, counselor and director of the Massachusetts Conservation Camp, former Connecticut Valley District representative on the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board, a Massachusetts Hunter Education Instructor and is a licensed New York hunting guide. He can be reached at mikeroche3@msn.com.