Some, however, have taken flight and were later captured with long-handled salmon nets after bedding down to hide. Once captured, fawns are weighed, sexed, and given a brief visual health check. Researchers have placed radio-transmitter collars on more than 40 fawns at each study site. The expandable collars will break away or fall off after 10 to 12 months. The collars are not a burden to the fawns, which also are ear-tagged for identification purposes.
Some fawns are indifferent to the processing.
They remain curled throughout the process. Others, though, voice their displeasure and squirm like a toddler in a dentist's chair. Within five minutes, the young deer are processed and returned to their beds. Researchers wear latex gloves to limit human scent on the fawns and leave the area quickly to limit any stress their visit may have caused to the fawn or the doe it belongs to. In one instance, five were found and four were caught in a field and adjacent woodlot near my home.