The land management team often hears the question: “What does an average day look like for y’all?” Truthfully, there is no average day for us. There are things we do regularly, like painting boundary lines or maintaining firebreaks. Then there are the more exciting tasks, like conducting prescribed burns - or deciding it’s time to do a “fish inventory” in one of the sanctuary’s lakes. Sometimes, we even save fawns from certain death.
At the beginning of June, we Landies (short for land management) were driving along a familiar road when our sanctuary manager suddenly said, “Uh oh,” and stopped in the middle of the road. A fawn had caught its hind leg in a wire fence, and its mother was nowhere in sight. We moved quickly to free the deer’s entangled leg before more damage could be done. The safest option was to cut out a section of the fence to prevent the fawn from breaking any bones as she flailed in fear of the big, bearded man in the high-vis vest.
Unfortunately, by the time we got her leg free, it was too late. Without getting too graphic, her hoof was no longer connected by bone - only tendons and skin were keeping her leg intact.
Moments like this are when it’s helpful to have an office manager with a background in wildlife rehabilitation. After a series of phone calls and referrals, we connected with Misfit Farms, a nonprofit animal rescue. After texting a photo of the injury, Gary, the owner, said he believed the injury could be healed. We wrapped the fawn tightly in a blanket, named her Twisty (for the obvious reason), and sat her in my lap for the ride to safety.
When we arrived, Gary gently scooped up Twisty and kissed her nose. That’s when we knew she was in the right hands. He gave her a promising prognosis and even mentioned the possibility of releasing her back into Beidler Forest once she’s healed. Apparently, deer orthopedics have come a long way - just don’t tell the horses.
Whether it's firebreaks, fences, or fawns, we never know what the day will bring - but we show up ready for anything.
