Earlier this year we were taking in injured roe deer every week.

Most had been involved in road traffic accidents, others had been trapped in fences or attacked by dogs.

Roe deer are never easy patients. They are very nervous and easily stressed. We have learnt over the years that if we keep these deer in a darkened shed, and limit the number of carers, many of them make a good recovery and return to the wild.

By the middle of May we were expecting calls about roe fawns. Just one came into care and sadly she died overnight. Then no more.

A couple of weeks ago we had a call from our friend Ray who runs a wildlife rescue centre in Cheshire.

If Ray gets a roe fawn he/she comes to Hessilhead for rehabilitation. We have much more woodland around here and fewer roads than there are close to Low Moss Wood. Ray said the fawn would be delivered in the next couple of weeks.

Petal arrived safely. She travelled in the car with the people who had been feeding her, and looks amazing.

Petal has already lost the white smudges that help roe fawns to ‘disappear’ in shady woodland. She has a healthy red summer coat, and the prettiest face we’ve seen for a long time.

Petal is already drinking milk from a bowl. She is eating chopped carrot and apple and enjoying hawthorn and raspberry leaves. We look forward to moving her to our large woodland over-wintering enclosure.