STANTON, Mich. (AP) — A Montcalm County woman has been accused of taking four fawns from the woods and giving them to family friends as pets.

Authorities say the woman called the Michigan Department of Natural Resources May 18, and said she discovered a fawn whose mother wasn't around. DNR Sgt. Ron Kimmerly says the woman was told to put the fawn back where she found it.

According to the department, many people who see fawns left by themselves for hours in a field, woods or yard believe they have been abandoned by their mothers. Officials said they usually have not been abandoned. Kimmerly said because fawns have no scent, mothers often stay away from them for long stretches so as to not draw predators to their babies with their own adult scent.

The department later received a complaint about a woman posting pictures on social media of a fawn that appeared to be inside a home.

Kimmerly says the woman later took triplet fawns from the woods and gave them away as pets.

The woman was issued four misdemeanor tickets, one for each fawn. The prosecutor who handled the case combined the charges into a single count. The Grand Rapids Press (http://bit.ly/29BAH5A ) reports that the woman was charged and fined $575.

One fawn was released. The other three fawns were taken to a wildlife rehabilitation specialist, but one died on the way.

The two surviving fawns are being rehabbed and will be released when they are a bit older.

"It's tough. Sometimes they adapt, and sometimes they die," Kimmerly said. "That's exactly why the law is in place."