A poignant photo appearing on Reddit posted by Ato Zandalizard showing a tiny fawn curled up beside a fake deer used for target practice, has stirred up dozens of emotional responses.

Let’s begin with some of the first and very popular responses, where the photo was “upvoted” by wildlife rescuers for speaking out about “fawn napping” where good meaning people have brought fawns to rehab centers thinking the mothers abandoned them; but that’s not true at all. Mothers will often leave their babies behind, because they are too young to keep up with her in order that the mother can forage through the day and return and feed her baby later.

It’s also very likely the mother is fine and has been watching her baby from a distance.

Wildlife rescuers say touching a fawn, which many people think is a harmless act, could actually put that baby’s life in danger. If the baby is moved, the mother may never be able to find it again.

According to Lydia Hoeppner with the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke, if the baby is curled up, it’s probably fine:

If the baby is curled up in what we call ‘fawn position,’ where they’re curled up like a cat, then that’s always a good sign. That means they’re being fed, they’re being taken care of and they’re just resting. If the baby is wandering around, kind of sometimes they look like they’re playing, that’s also a good sign.

And then there’s the hunting position.

Hundreds of years ago, hunting for food was a necessity. Nowadays, hunting deer has become a form of recreation where people stalk and kill the animals for the thrill. Deer have been favorite targets; a study of 80 collared, recorded deer found that 20 of them had been shot with “traditional archery equipment” and had been wounded but were never recovered by their respective hunters.

Is hunting about conservation and population control? Does starvation and disease occur if the herds or animal populations are not culled? Some states claim that deer populations get out of control, and therefore hunting contests are scheduled. Deer are prolific breeders with an extremely high rate of reproduction. Just hunting bucks doesn’t necessarily work since one buck can breed with multiple does, who go on to have multiple fawns.

Deer hunting does not keep deer populations down.

When deer populations decrease, they reproduce quicker. It’s not unusual in sparse deer areas for the does to give birth to twins or triplets. With more to eat, fawns have higher survival rates.

Controlling the deer populations humanely.

Wildlife fertility control using PZP (porcine zona pellucida) can keep females from becoming pregnant. Although surgical sterilization and other birth control methods are expensive, it has been estimated the deer population can be reduced by 45 percent.

Sad to say, deer hunting remains a popular “sport.” One day we hope there is more compassion in the world.