Now, we can meet “Bambi!”, or fawns (baby deer), at Nara Park.
While pregnant deer are protected from an early stage at Roku-en, which provides protection and treatment to deer that are injured or sick, deer are after all wild animals, so there are mother deer who give birth without this protection, and are now taking their children for an early debut at Nara Park.
Of course fawns born at Roku-en will in turn make their debuts at Nara Park, too.
The fawns I met at Nara Park today had a head and body length of 60~70 centimeters. The height of their shoulders was 40 centimeters.
They trotted along with their mothers.
The following was written on a flyer from the Nara Deer Protection Agency, so we adhere to it.
“If you see a fawn (baby deer) in the park, please keep an eye on it.
For two to three weeks after birth, fawns have the habit of spending time hiding in the grass.
Please don’t touch the fawns. If their mothers detect a human scent, they sometimes stop feeding them milk.
Please beware of the mother deer. The mother deer have strong motherly instincts, and sometimes attack those who are just close to their children.
Deer will mistakenly eat garbage, so please take all of your garbage home with you.
The deer inhabiting Nara Park are wild animals and mainly eat grass, nuts and berries of trees, and snack on “shika senbei (deer crackers)”.
Anything else will upset their stomachs, so please don’t feed them anything else.
Indeed, though it may be common sense, we still have the tendency to run and say, “It’s Bambi!” Let’s be careful when we go to the park. Nara Park will continue to be a place to co-exist with deer. The deer are waiting for us at Nara Park anytime. Please come say hello!
