Photos by R.C. Wheater Sr.
A John Berry
weekend
During his unique
weekend in Fremont, country music artist John Berry performed a two-hour solo concert on
Saturday night at the Dogwood Center for the Performing Arts (above) after joining local
fans for pizza and the breadsticks served-up by Jacob Burt (below) of Spanky’s.
On Sunday, Berry
delivered the
keynote Commencement address
for Fremont High School’s Class
of 2008, pointing to the historical
example of the World War II
“Greatest Generation” to
encourage the new graduates to
face and conquer the challenges
facing their generation. Berry
followed his speech by singing a
graduation song that he wrote
when he graduated from high
school.
Berry, who also sang
at First
Baptist Church of Fremont on
Sunday morning, spent hours signing autographs and talking with people before and after
the Saturday night concert. He was asked if he would consider returning to Fremont.
“We’ll be
back,” he replied.
Thursday meeting to discuss
M-82 highway work
The Michigan Department of
Transportation will host an “open house style” meeting on Thursday to discuss
plans for work on M-82 from Fremont to Newaygo.
The work is scheduled to
begin on Monday, June 9.
MDOT officials said that the
general public is invited to the meeting on Thursday, June 5 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the
Fremont Area District Library.
MDOT officials announced
plans to improve 10 miles of M-82. The roadway will be resurfaced from Main Street in
Fremont to M-37 in Newaygo. Work on M-82 from Apache Dr. in Fremont south to 56th Street
will include resurfacing, the addition of a left turn lane, joint repairs, concrete curb
and gutters and drainage improvements.
M-82 will be closed to
through traffic but will remain open to adjacent businesses between Apache Drive and 56th
Street during construction. Traffic will be detoured along E. Main Street (48th Street)
and Baldwin Ave.
Photo by Dawn Machiele
Experienced whitetail deer
rehabilitator Dawn Machiele is caring for these three-week-old orphaned fawns, preparing
them to return to the wild as soon as possible. Freelance rehab efforts are both illegal
and ill-advised, according to Conservation Officer Mike Wells.
"Leave those fawns alone"
By R.C.Wheater Sr.
On an ideal spring day, one
that compels people to hike the fields and woods for the first time in months, an
adorable, spotted, helpless fawn sits alone, looking orphaned and vulnerable.
Conservation Officer Mike
Wells wants you to leave the fawn alone.
“It’s human nature
to want to do something, but nine times out of 10, human interaction with wildlife makes
things worse or even fatal for the animals.”
Wells said that fawns have
been “dropping” since early May, generally earlier than average. With good
woods-walking weather has come an exceptional number of reports of people trying to “help”
the fawns that they find.
“Especially this year,
there’s been a severe problem,” Wells said.
Wells explained that, until
fawns are approximately a month old, they cannot keep-up with their mothers, who need to
keep moving in order to feed themselves and provide for the babies. The fawns also cannot
escape from predators, so does will “park” the fawns while they forage. Wells
said that the fawns instinctively stay silent and motionless, using their spotted
camouflage coats to escape the notice of predators. Fawns are also virtually scent-free,
he added, and will stay in place for many hours, waiting for mother to return.
If humans approach, does will
stay away from the fawns for fear of attracting attention to them. Hours after the humans
leave, the does return and reclaim their offspring, sometimes drawn by the hungry fawn’s
bleating calls.
People who find fawns should
leave them alone and leave the area, Wells said. If people see evidence that the fawn
really is orphaned, he encourages them to call the DNR hotline at 1-800-292-7800 or call
him directly. In most cases, however, he instructs people to wait for 12 or 24 hours and
check on the fawns. In most cases, the fawn will have reunited with its mother and moved
on.
In
cases when fawns really are orphaned, as in the case of a doe hit by a car on Thursday,
Wells calls someone like Dawn Machiele of Fremont. Machiele is a state-authorized wildlife
rehabilitator who takes-in fawns and works to return them to the wild. Along with the
knowledge and experience for the job, she also has a state permit and works with three
other local people who operate under her permit.
Machiele has 15 years of deer
rehab experience and raised her own whitetail deer before that. She and the others do the
rehab work as volunteers and welcome donations of blankets, towels or money for food,
supplies and veterinary services. Machiele said that she has been receiving two to four
“orphaned fawn” calls per day for the last three weeks.
She noted that fawns have to
be fed a special, restricted diet delivered in a unique way. The process also has to be
done in a way that avoids domesticating the animal. Feeding a fawn the wrong food in the
wrong way will kill the animal, she said.
Fawns who have been
mistakenly removed should be returned to the spot where they were found. Machiele said
that a mother deer will search for her baby for two or three days.
Along with being ill-advised,
unauthorized rehabilitation efforts are also illegal, Wells said.
“It is illegal to remove
any wild animal from the wild,” Wells said.
Removal of a wild animal can
bring fines and jail time, and, if it causes the death of the animal, the price can
include liability for a deer’s value to the people of Michigan. That value has been
pegged at $1,000 recently.
Wells said that the people
who face that kind of penalty are those who deliberately try to keep or domesticate a wild
deer.
“People who try to keep
these animals and ultimately cause their death: those are the people who get in trouble,”
Wells said.
Michigan
Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer Mike Wells can be reached at
689-5063. Dawn Machiele also encourages people to call her at 924-2418 or contact her
colleagues Crissy Cox of Fremont, Tom Rohn of White Cloud or Jenny Greenman, also of White
Cloud.
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