This is an opinion piece.

In a strange combination of experiences, spotted fawns were a big part of my life this past week.

First, and much to my delight, my wife and I watched as a spotted fawn pranced around the backyard of our new home in Blount County.

That was followed by a woman who told me a story of how she had found a spotted fawn “abandoned” by its mother behind her house. She had brought the fawn inside and was feeding it from a baby bottle.

A third person, this one a farmer, told me a sad story of how he was cutting hay and had accidentally run over and killed a fawn hiding in the tall grass.

If you are keeping score, that’s one dead spotted fawn, one spotted fawn that will probably die and the one in my backyard that will be fine.