Health & Environment

Veterinarian And Game Warden-Husband Save Life Of Injured Fawn

August 18, 2017

Texas A&M veterinarian Dr. Alice Blue-McLendon cares for Leva, an 8-week-old fawn that was saved when its mother died during birth. (Texas &M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences)
Texas A&M veterinarian Dr. Alice Blue-McLendon cares for Leva, an 8-week-old fawn that was saved when its mother died during birth. (Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences)
By Megan Palsa, Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences

A young Texas fawn is lucky to be alive, thanks to the efforts of a Texas A&M University veterinarian and her husband who were able to save its life after its mother was fatally injured.

Dr. Alice Blue-McLendon, clinical associate professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM), says the story of Leva, an 8-week-old White-tailed fawn, is both heartbreaking and inspirational.

Veterinary student Samantha Monier feeds Leva, an 8-week-old fawn. (Photo from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences)
Student Angela Guajardo  feeds Leva, an 8-week-old fawn. (Photo from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences)

“We recently started caring for Leva at the CVM’s Winnie Carter Wildlife Center,” Blue-McLendon said. “We call her our ‘miracle baby’ because she survived her mother’s fatal accident thanks to a husband and wife—a game warden and veterinarian respectively.

“The game warden, who was called to assist with the situation, found Leva’s mother with three fractured legs and severe head trauma,” Blue-McLendon continued. “Then he saw legs ascending from the birth canal and realized she was in labor. He knew the fawn was still alive because the legs were moving. With that kind of trauma, it was amazing that she survived.”

For the first six weeks of Leva’s life, she was bottle-fed and cared for by the game warden’s wife, a veterinarian who had recently graduated from Texas A&M’s CVM.

After struggling to find a rehabilitation center that would accept the fawn and help her regain her health so she could be released back into the wild, the couple contacted Blue-McLendon.

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“Because of our educational permit at the Winnie Carter Wildlife Center here at Texas A&M, Leva can live here the rest of her life and will be taken care of,” Blue-McLendon said. “She’ll eventually join our herd of white-tailed deer and also interact with students who are interested in caring for wildlife.”

Though Leva was in dire need of veterinary care, Blue-McLendon reminds the general public that wildlife, especially fawns, are best left alone unless they are in life-threatening danger or are injured.

“A lot of people find fawns by themselves and think they need to be rescued,” Blue-McLendon explained. “But it’s just the nature of fawns to stay hidden; most of the time, fawns are not abandoned and their mothers come back.”

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Contact: Megan Palsa,  Director of Communications, Media and Public Relations at the CVM at (979) 862-4216 or mpalsa@cvm.tamu.edu or Keith Randall, News & Information, at (979) 845-4644 or keith-randall@tamu.edu

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