As Hilary Powell walks away from a small, fenced enclosure in front of her home, a week-old fawn inside begins to cry.

 The high-pitched noise is incessant at first as the fawn — all legs and no taller than knee-high — moves awkwardly like a child learning to walk.

It is hard for Powell to walk away hearing the cries that make her feel like a bad mother for leaving it alone, she says.After all, she is the only mother the white-faced fawn knows.

Born about a week and a half ago at Deer Tracks Junction farm, the fawn, named Dragon by Powell's 19-year-old son, was unique from the start. His birth mother, "Bunny" is a special type of whitetail deer known as the Piebald, which carries a genetic defect causing it to have large areas of white in its coat. The defect reportedly occurs in less than 1 percent of the whitetail deer population.


Dragon was rejected by his mother after birth, likely by natural instinct because he looks different than other fawns. His white coloring would cause him to stand out rather than blend in when trying to hide in nature, Powell said. Dragon spent his first few nights inside Powell's home being bottle-fed before graduating to his own small pen in her yard. Powell still handles his feedings.


Later this summer, as he grows and becomes stable, he'll join the other deer in a large fenced-in pasture area. This could happen as early as July, Powell said.
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