-
Deer gives birth to two fawns in Boystown
(POSTED: 6/13/11) A mother deer found an unlikely home -- the heart of Chicago's Boystown -- and gave birth in recent days to two fawns, who are now living near Belmont and Halsted.
Amid the bustling North Side neighborhood, the doe landed in a secluded, gravel courtyard behind an apartment building. To get to this spot, she likely would have had to walk down an alley, turn into a narrow gangway and pass through a gate of a chain-link fence.
“The mother is big, about 250 pounds, and she had birth right in this little gangway area,” said Frank Aolokotronis, who works at a nearby restaurant. “It’s crazy. We’re talking about the middle of the city here.”
How she ended up in that location is probably only known to her, wildlife experts said.
“It sounds as peculiar to me as it does to you,” said Kevin Luby, a naturalist at Willowbrook Wildlife Center, based in Glen Ellyn. “She might have gotten herself into that situation and then had an emergency birth right there. I don’t think it’s something she would have chosen.”
The doe’s newborns appear to be doing well. They can prance around the small stones, but they are not strong enough to keep up with mom, who often leaves during the day to forage.
“Moms leave their fawns alone every day and it’s perfectly normal,” said Dawn Keller, executive director of Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation, with sites in Chicago and the suburbs. “She usually only comes back to nurse.”
While this mother deer is gone, the two fawns can often be heard crying. And during last week’s rainstorms, they reportedly took shelter under an air conditioning unit.
Despite the unusual setting, it’s best to leave the deer where they are, experts said. Chicago Animal Care and Control is aware of the situation but said it will generally leave animals alone unless they are injured or pose a threat. Flint Creek is also keeping an eye on the deer and said that, so far, intervention is not necessary.
“She is living the life that deer live, just in a very peculiar place,” Luby said. “This is probably the most urban deer that I’ve ever heard of. . . . The kids might actually learn from her and learn to live the same lifestyle she has.”
The deer population in the Chicago region has been greatly increasing in recent years, and many have been reported within city limits before. Even still, those in the greater Lake View community have been abuzz with chatter about their new neighbors.
“Can you imagine a family of deer living behind the alley?” said Pablo Moneano, who works at a bar in the area. “There is no room for the animals in this world anymore.”
By Katie Drews, for ChicagoWildlifeNews.com
Contact: [email protected]
6 comments:
-
We sat with the Mom deer in a gated front yard all night on Friday 1am-4:30 am. Police said animal control would get her in the morning, and at 7:45am she was there. 8:30 she was gone, I guess when animal control came they just let her back out?
Can you imagine what would happen if it walked 3 houses west to the intersection of Halsted & Belmont. Havoc. Both for the deer & people/cars.
Why aren't they taking the family to the forest preserve?
-
Anonymous - I am one of your neighbors and thought they were going to take her as well. I imagine the reason they aren't is because they figure they will do more harm than good trying to capture her.
Here is another video of Mom walking down the sidewalk on Briar and then cutting into the street around us (me and another neighbor and our two dogs) - she seemed cool with us being around
http://youtu.be/zTc9sqFtomU?hd=1
Greg
-
Greg:
The deer's 2 babies are in our neighbor's front yard. The Mom is limping & has obviously been hit by a car. I've called everyone, including the police, Animal Control, ChicagoWildlifeNews folks (very helpful), the FlintCreek Wildlife Rehabilitation, the Illinois Deer Biologist & our Exotics Vet.
I'm sure we have met on our street at DeerGate2011.
-Stacy
-
Hi Stacy,
Is there any news with the deer? I'm so surprised animal control wouldn't help. Has the alderman been of any assistance?
-Lorna, a concerned animal lover
-
I'm reposting this because I'm on a shared computer and my colleague Ashley's name came up.
Hi Stacy,
Is there any news with the deer? I'm so surprised animal control wouldn't help. Has the alderman been of any assistance?
-Lorna, a concerned animal lover
So Chicago animal control is down with this? Aren't they worried one of the little guys is gonna get plowed into by a car?
There should probably be some ads on this site, Katie.