Thursday July 9, 2009, 2:05 am
Fawn Rescued Near Portsmouth Traffic Circle

PORTSMOUTH -- An orphaned fawn dodged cars and trucks at the traffic circle and Route 1 Bypass Wednesday before being rescued by city police and Fish & Game officers after an hour-long, two-phase rescue operation.

At about 11 a.m. the spotted fawn was reported running around the traffic circle and when help arrived, it had hidden in a thicket of brush. Police Officer Christina Meyer held a rope net while Fish & Game officers tromped through the wooded area with long-handled nets and a carrying cage, hoping to save the fawn from running into a car and dying on the road. At about 11:20 a.m., the animal darted from the brush and across four lanes of traffic, with Meyer holding the net in hot pursuit.

When it ran out of sight, the rescue effort was called off, but shortly after, a caller reported seeing the fawn behind the state liquor store banging up against a fence. That call prompted phase two of the operation, when Fish & Game officers, assisted by Meyer, erected a flexible fence around the area and flushed the fawn out into a waiting hand-held net.

At noon it was placed into the carrying cage, while its cry sounded like a human baby.

Fish & Game Officer Kent Gustafson said the fawn will be brought to a wildlife rescue facility in Madison where it will be reared until fall, then released into the wild.

"It worked out well," he said after the successful capture. "We have fawns turn up all the time, but the mother is usually close by."

Gustafson said most fawns are born in early June and he guessed this fawn's age to be about two weeks old. Asked if he knew the animal's gender, he said, "We could find out if we wanted to take it out. But it's staying in the cage."

Thursday July 9, 2009, 2:32 am
Thank you Raffi! Gorgeous little fellow.

Thursday July 9, 2009, 4:20 am
Thanks for the news.

Thursday July 9, 2009, 5:36 am
awww... Thanks Raffi!

Thursday July 9, 2009, 6:43 am
Nice to see some good local news! I know the Portsmouth traffic circle - this little guy definitely would not have made it if Portsmouth police and Fish and Game had not intervened. :-D

Thursday July 9, 2009, 6:05 pm
Oh yes, Teri, that is a very busy and dangerous place for the little fawn to be in. I am well familiar with it myself. Happy ending, I love fawns, in fact named my daughter that very name, Fawn.

Thursday July 9, 2009, 7:38 pm
More good news for animals. I am enjoying reading the news today.

Friday July 10, 2009, 2:49 am
I'm so happy to read some good news, though the cries the fawn made were heart wrenching!

Friday July 10, 2009, 10:16 am
Thank you everyone-

Friday July 10, 2009, 1:17 pm
Shame, can you imagine the how petrified the poor baby was