Doe gives birth to fawns after being killed in car crash

Two fawns are lucky to be alive after a tragic beginning. Early on Thursday morning, their mother, still carrying the twins, was struck by a car and killed in Bluffton, South Carolina. "She was hit right at term," said Dr. Ben Parker, of the Coastal Veterinary Clinic. "The babies appeared to be in great shape and survived the impact of the car, where the mother did not. I suspect the uterus and all of the fluid in there acted like an air bag and protected these babies and kept them from being killed."



"When our guys arrived on scene, the baby deer, or fawns were trying to stand up. They were kind of wobbly legged," said Capt. Randy Hunter, of Bluffton fire rescue. Firefighters and law enforcement officers called upon the staff at Coastal Veterinary Clinic for help. Parker and his staff have helped rescue fawns and other animals before, they say this is a unique situation.

"This is the first time we've had a deer killed by a car and the babies survived," said Parker. "For them to look as good as they do six to eight hours after the fact is amazing. They're both eating and drinking. I think they'll both survive." The team is going to continue to nurture the twin fawns, giving them a chance at a normal life.



"What we're going to do for the next few months is we need to bottle feed them until they are weaned at about two to three months of age, and then we'll try to find a place to release them and hopefully they'll be adopted by a herd of deer in the local area and be protected and live a full life," Parker said. Bluffton firefighters say they remained at the scene, protecting the fawns until the staff from Parker's office arrived.