DEER: Fawns are doing well in Pennsylvania.

A three-year study by the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Penn State just announced the results of a field study that shows the commonwealth “has good, stable fawn survival.”

Researchers looked at 165 fawns and more than 200,000 trail-camera photographs during the field study.

“The research, which wrapped up in 2017, was started to see if predators — particularly coyotes — were taking more fawns than documented in a two-year study that began in 2000,” the Game Commission reported this week.

Christopher Rosenberry, who supervises the agency’s Deer and Elk Section, stated, “Our field studies have shown repeatedly that predators are the No. 1 cause of fawn mortality, and more often than not, black bears are taking the fawns. But fawn mortality is not causing deer-population reductions anywhere in Pennsylvania.”

The other two biggest predators of fawns are coyotes and bobcats.

According to Rosenberry, if predators were taking enough fawns to affect the deer population, reducing the number of antlerless deer licenses would keep the population to desired levels.

And despite all the local hunters we know, Rosenberry noted that 90 percent of the adult deer population survive from one hunting season to the next.

FUNDRAISER: An employee at Tops Friendly Markets called to let us that the store’s managers have a friendly competition going on to raise money for Oishei Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, N.Y.

To donate, put money in the jar with the name of your favorite manager: Tami, Mike, Joy or Kelly.

She said the winning manager will not only get a pizza party with his or her team, but they’ll also get to pick the “punishment” for the losing team. Also, they’ll be raising money to help sick children.