DOVER, Del. (AP) — Delaware wildlife officials are warning residents against moving apparently abandoned white-tailed deer fawns.

Joe Rogerson, manager and biologist Division of Fish & Wildlife, said in a news release Tuesday that now is the fawning season for the deer.

Rogerson says even if newborn deer appear to be alone, the mother is probably close by. Fawns must feed every few hours, so the doe usually isn't far.

And because fawns can't start traveling with their mothers until they're about 2 years old, Rogerson says, their instinct is to stay very still so as not to attract predators.

Every year, officials say, residents call Fish & Wildlife to report “abandoned” fawns. Some people even try to take them home or to a wildlife rehabilitation facility.

That's a mistake, Rogerson says, and illegal.