Anna and the Doe Fawn
Reading Comprehension Activity

Anna ran across the front yard and around into the back as Brisky her dog chased her. “Come on, boy!”

When she got to the backyard she noticed something in the fence at the far end of the yard. “Oh, no!” Anna grabbed Brisky’s collar and led him to the house. “Mom! Mom!”

Mom raced onto the back porch. “What’s wrong?!”

“There’s a fawn trapped in the back fence. We’ve got to help it!”  

Mom grabbed Brisky. “You have to stay in the house, boy. You could accidentally hurt the fawn.” She put him inside and closed the door. “Come on honey,” said Mom.

Anna and Mom sped to the back fence. Mom looked to see if she could get the fawn loose. “It’s a doe fawn. I don’t know why she’s alone or how on earth she got her leg stuck in between the planks. We’ll need help. You stay with her, I’ll go call animal rescue.”

Anna sat next to the fawn. “It’ll be okay. Don’t be scared.” She kept talking to the fawn until help came. She was relieved to see Mom leading the rescuer through the yard.

Anna rushed to meet them. “It’s a fawn. She’s stuck in the fence. Can you help her?” gasped Anna.

“Well, howdy. I’m Randy. Let me take a look. I need to know what we’re dealing with.” Randy examined the fawn then smiled at Anna. “We’ll have her out of there in just a bit. I have to go to my truck to get some tools. I’ll be right back.”

Anna walked with Randy. “Will the fawn be okay? How come she’s not with her mother? Can we keep her?”

Randy scratched his head. “Okay, let’s go one at a time. The fawn will be fine. She was probably waiting in hiding for her mother to come back and got frightened. Luckily, nothing was after her.” He opened his truck and took a saw and some other tools out of a toolbox.

“What about my last question? Can we keep her?”

Randy handed Anna a hammer. “You can carry this for me. And, no, you can’t keep her. She’s a wild animal and needs to stay in the wild. If she’s injured, I’ll get her to a veterinarian. Then she’d need to be taken care of by a licensed wildlife rehabilitation center. ”

Anna’s face dropped. “But, what if she doesn’t have a mother? Who will take care of her?”

“The first thing we need to do is get her free,” said Randy as they walked to the back. “Then we’ll see if we can find her mother. It could be that her mother is hiding in the woods back there, waiting till she’s free.”

Randy cut the wood plank far enough away from the fawn so she wouldn’t get hurt. When the fawn was free, it wobbled to its feet and trotted off toward the woods. When it got to the edge of the woods, the mother deer met it.

“See,” said Randy, “the mother was waiting for her baby to be free. She’ll take good care of her.” He gathered his tools.

“Thank you,” said Mom. “You animal rescuers are amazing.”

Anna watched the fawn and its mother until they were out of sight. A smile crossed Anna’s face. She would miss the fawn, but she was happy it was safe with its mother.