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Wednesday, November 16, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
The season’s upon us...
Rehabbed fawns released at ranch
By Jim Anderson
Correspondent
Last Saturday was a red-
letter day for the deer popu-
lation of Sisters Country.
Right around noon, Judy
Niedzwiecke, who operates
Wildside Rehabilitation, Inc,
in Bend (http://www.wildside
rehab.com), and her crew of
volunteers arrived at Gayle
Baker’s Rimrock Ranch with
a horse trailer half-full of
rehabbed mule deer fawns to
be released on the banks of
Whychus Creek.
This is a usual fall event
for Wildside, who took over
the fawn rehab responsibil-
ity from wildlife rehabber
Tracy Leonhardy, who once
lived in Sisters Country.
Each fall, Leonhardy would
truck out a load of 20 to 30
fawns to Rimrock and watch
them answer the call of the
wild for the first time in their
lives.
This time, among the eight
fawns that slowly walked
freely across the ranch, there
was one among them that had
an adventure that is all too
familiar.
A couple driving down
the road near Prineville saw
the newly born fawn wob-
bling on unsteady legs on
the shoulder and immedi-
ately that age-old thought hit
them: “Oh, look at that poor
baby deer, it doesn’t have a
mother, we’d better take it
home.” And they almost did.
But on the way home
wiser thoughts began to
seep in that perhaps it didn’t
PHOTO BY JIM ANDERSON
Rehabbed fawn release with friends at Rimrock Ranch.
need help. The fawn’s mom
was in all probability stand-
ing behind a bush watching
the couple kidnap her baby.
Anyway, they took the fawn
to the Prineville police sta-
tion—as if they knew what to
do with it.
The desk officer immedi-
ately contacted ODFW and
they in turn contacted Tracy
Leonhardy, who has a long
history of knowing how to
keep kidnapped fawns alive
and well. Tracy brought it
to Wildside, where the fawn
became the responsibility of
rehabber Sandy Thompson,
and the rest would be his-
tory except the fawn was so
young it wasn’t even into
knowing how or why to suck.
It took a total of four
weeks before the team of
volunteers finally taught the
fawn what the nipple was
all about and how much she
would enjoy the contents of
the liquid in the bottle. From
that point on it was a battle to
just keep the bottle full long
enough to satiate the growing
fawn’s appetite and physical
needs.
There are two fawns still
with Sandy that are not fit
enough for release. They will
winter-over in the capable
hands of Wildside volunteers.
Rehabbers urge the pub-
lic not pick up “abandoned”
fawns, even if you see a
dead doe on the road next to
it—it may not be the fawn’s
mother. Just call ODFW,
OSP, or the local sheriff, to
report when, where, and what
you saw and let it go at that.
Annual Open House
CORRECTION
“Roundhouse grant boosts
theater group,” (November
9, page 10). The Silent Echo
Theater Company received
the $1,000 grant. They are
planning their first production
next month at The Belfry.
The name of the theater
company that received a
grant from The Roundhouse
Foundation was listed incor-
rectly in The Nugget’s story
Sunday mornings
we open the bar
at 9:30 so you can
catch the 10:00
NFL games over
breakfast and a
Bloody Mary.
541-549-RIBS
sisterssaloon.net
190 E. Cascade Ave., Sisters
Pet Photos
w
it
h
Santa
Get your pet’s photo taken
with Santa
11 AM- 2 pM!
Photo by Jodi Schneider McNamee
Plus...
Wild Oregon
Wreaths by
Janet Z &
Shayna
Happy Holidays!
ndorfer,
Join Kathy Degge
Krause,
Tonye Phillips, Al
Lynn Woodward,
Kit Stafford
and more!
&
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
Habitat ReStore created a magnificent holiday sale space for
local shoppers last week.
All proceeds go to Furry Friends Foundation, Inc.
501(c)(3) • www.furryfriendsfoundation.org
Saturday, December 3 • 9am-4pm • Sisters Art Works
For more information and vendor list visit www.sistersartworks.com • 204 W. Adams Ave., Sisters