MONTCALM COUNTY - Michigan DNR officers have released the social media photos and ranting Facebook messages from a woman who took four fawns from the woods and gave them away to friends to keep as pets.

Karen Hofstetter of Montcalm County was charged with four counts of taking a protected animal from the wild, officials with the Department of Natural Resources said. Her misdemeanor court case ended with $575 in fines and other costs - but not before she made some vulgar threats to the DNR officers who took the fawns from her, DNR Sgt. Ron Kimmerly said. The photos and social medial posts were used as evidence in the criminal case.

A Montcalm County woman accused of taking four deer from the woods posted pictures online of the animals in her home, the DNR said. (Photo courtesy of the Michigan DNR)

Some of the photos show the fawns inside a home, including a selfie photo she snapped with one of the little animals, and one picture that shows them huddled in a corner in what appears to be a bedroom.

When people on social media expressed concern or surprise over seeing pictures of the fawns in the house, she responded online by saying "Omg people chill ... I'm not retarded. They are at a safe place."

In a profanity-laced Facebook post she made after the DNR caught her, Hofstetter is accused of threatening to kill animals.

"Montcalm DNR is a piece of (expletive). ... "Any animal I see from today until the day I finally (expletive) die I'm going to kill. Snapping necks (expletive). #orangeisthenewblack"

Another post showed her posing with her citations: "Charged for having four deer ... Haha Where's the fourth stupid? Yall are a God damn joke. Don't do your job in the first place then write people up. ... Haha have fun with all the paperwork ... And yall can take my hunting rights I don't give a (expletive)! I don't hunt anyways you dumb(expletive)."

The incident began May 18, when Hofstetter called the DNR and told a conservation officer she'd taken a fawn she found in the woods. The officer told her to put it back where she found it, but she did not. A short time later, the DNR got a tip that the woman, who officers said is in her early 20s, was posting pictures of a fawn on Facebook.

"The officer tracked her down," he said. "This gal did nothing but lie to the officer. She basically gave that fawn to a family friend," Kimmerly said in an earlier interview with MLive and The Grand Rapids Press.

A Montcalm County woman was fined $575 for taking baby deer from the woods and keeping them in her house. (Photo courtesy of the Michigan DNR)

A week later, the suspect took triplet fawns from the woods. "The officer dealt with that, and again she was not being truthful. She also gave those three away to try and hide (her actions)."

Hofstetter initially was charged with four counts of taking a protected animal from the wild - one count for each fawn. Each count carries up to a $1,000 fine. The prosecutor on the case lowered it to a one-count charge.

When the DNR saw the profane and threatening message the woman was posting on Facebook, they alerted Montcalm County authorities.

As for the fawns recovered by the DNR, one was immediately released into the wild in the area where it had been initially found. It was not seen again. Kimmerly hopes it reconnected with its mother and survived, but knows it might not have.

The other three fawns were taken to a wildlife rehabilitation specialist. One of the trio died on the way. The other two are being rehabbed and will be released when they are a bit older.