FawnGuard: Protecting Wildlife, Preserving Farms
Each year, thousands of newborn fawns are tragically killed by farm machinery during the mowing season. Fawns instinctively remain motionless in tall grass to avoid predators. While this survival mechanism works against natural threats like coyotes, it makes them vulnerable to agricultural equipment.
The Problem
Unseen Fawn Fatalities
Each spring, as farmers mow fields to harvest crops like alfalfa, winter wheat, and rye, newborn fawns remain hidden in tall grass, relying on their instinct to stay motionless. While this helps them avoid predators, it makes them highly vulnerable to farm machinery. The consequences are severe—fawns suffer fatal injuries, harvested feed gets contaminated with animal remains, and farmers face costly equipment damage and cleanup. The European sensor-based solutions cost a lot of money and are not available in the United States, no effective, widely available method currently exists in the U.S. to prevent these tragedies.
Why This is a Serious Issue
- Fawns Do Not Flee: Unlike adult deer, fawns instinctively remain hidden and still when faced with danger
- Low Visibility in Tall Grass: Fawns remain motionless as a survival strategy, blending into the tall grass where they are born. Their small size and natural camouflage make them nearly invisible to farmers operating heavy machinery, increasing the risk of accidental injury.
- Intervention Isn’t a Solution: Moving fawns manually often leads to maternal rejection, reducing their survival chances.
- Contaminated Feed Risks: When a fawn is struck by farm machinery, its remains contaminate harvested feed, posing a serious risk of botulism in livestock.
- Equipment Damage & Costly Cleanup: Farmers must spend time and money cleaning and repairing machines after such incidents.
What We Offer
Our Solution
FawnGuard provides a proactive, non-invasive solution to detect and protect fawns before mowing begins. By using thermal imaging drones, we can locate hidden fawns in fields during early morning hours before machinery starts operating.
How It Works
- Pre-Mowing Scans: A thermal-equipped drone flies over fields at dawn when body heat contrast is highest.
- Precision Mapping: The drone’s camera detects warm-bodied fawns hidden in the grass.
- Marking the Location: We place a flagged 10-foot pole near the fawn’s position so farmers can safely mow around it.
- Fawn Remains Safe: The mother will retrieve the fawn later, ensuring natural survival without human interference.
Why Drones Are the Best Option
Drones are non-Invasive and the lack human contact means no maternal rejection and less stress for the animal. Being fast and efficient it is able scan acres in minutes compared to impossible alternative of manual searching which would prove less accurate and take weeks. Drones prevents costly contamination, livestock illness, and machine repairs. Drones have the potential to be used on multiple farms with minimal training and resources.