Why You Could Face Legal Trouble for Keeping a Deer in Louisiana
It's really tough to fight the temptation, but just don't do it. Don't assume that you are "saving Bambi's life" if you attempt to foster a young fawn because you think it will die without your intervention.
Of late I've noticed quite a few videos recorded by Louisiana hunters' game cameras that showed cute fawns with their mothers as they visited deer feeders in the area.
I've also noticed essentially the same repertoire of questions/comments each time these videos popped up.
Common Questions Louisiana People Have When Seeing Videos With Baby Deer
To help those who truly never had their questions answered, I've got some relevant information.
- Do deer always have twins? No, not always, but an article from the National Deer Association highlights that most healthy, adult does will give birth to twins. In some unusual cases, they could give birth to triplets or quadruplets, but that's extremely rare. Single births are more common among younger does in their first-ever pregnancy.
- How old are fawns when their mother begins to wean them? Recordbreakingranch.com answered this very question stating that fawns begin to eat solid food at about 3 to 4 weeks old but continue to nurse. By 8 to 10 weeks, fawns are weaned and start to rely more on solid food.
- Do deer make good pets? This is a question I see regularly as people pose situations where the mother might have been killed or is completely absent. The answer for this one is emphatically, NO.
Why Don't Deer Make Good Pets? For One Thing, It's Against Louisiana Law
In an article from a-z-animals.com, we learn that, "While deer can be tamed, it is important to remember that taming differs from domestication. Although neighborhood deer may become accustomed to people, or even accept food from people’s hands, this is different than living in enforced captivity, which can be incredibly stressful. Deer can die of stress in captivity."
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In fact, in the State of Louisiana, unless a person possesses a legal permit to do so, it's against the law to keep a deer as a pet.
A video from the National Deer Association that was posted to the LDWF Facebook page perfectly explains why it's never a good idea to have a deer as a pet.