White-tailed deer fawn, standing

Odocoileus virginianus

White-tailed Deer · Upstate New York · 16 August 2025

A White-tailed Deer fawn in the woods of Upstate New York, up on legs still slightly too long for the rest of it and looking straight down the lens. White-tails live across the whole eastern half of the continent, in woodland and on its edges, and Upstate's mix of woods and fields is about as good as their country gets.

The white spots break up its outline in dappled woodland light and will be gone by its first winter, once the adult coat comes in. For its first few weeks a fawn spends most of the day lying hidden and alone while the doe feeds elsewhere, returning only to nurse. A fawn found by itself is almost never abandoned, and the best thing to do is leave it exactly where it is.