blake
Life Member
Leave Wildlife Babies in the Wild
By Joe Wilkinson
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
The questions have been coming in for a week or more. ‘What do I do
about the fawn in the ditch?’ ‘Should I put the baby bird back in
the nest?’ The frequency will increase, as more of us head outdoors
and as more wildlife babies come tumbling along. In most cases, the
answer is the same. ‘Leave it alone.’
“A guy called, worried about a deer that wouldn’t run away from
him. It was snorting and acting strange,” recalls Tim Thompson of the
first ‘deer call’ of the season. Thompson is the district wildlife
biologist for the Department of Natural Resources in the Iowa City area.
“I told him there was most likely a fawn nearby and the doe was trying
to distract him.”
That scene was a little different than the typical ‘lost fawn’
report, but they’ll start coming in hot and heavy in the weeks ahead.
Memorial Day weekend is the peak of whitetail deer births in Iowa. In
the days that follow, a well-meaning hiker, angler or landowner comes
upon a fawn, curled up and unmoving in the grass and wants to know what
to do. If the fawn is lucky, they won’t ‘rescue it’ before they
make a call.
“Whitetail fawns are born without scent. The doe has a scent. To
protect the baby, she leaves it hidden as she goes off to feed,”
explains Thompson. “All instincts tell the fawn to lie still. When the
mother is done, she comes back to feed the fawn.” That is, unless the
doe senses a predator in the vicinity. At that point, her own instinct
for survival keeps her from returning.
For other wildlife young in Iowa, it is much the same story. Baby birds
may get some help as their parents dive-bomb prospective intruders;
assuming they are there to eat their offspring. In the end, though, a
wildlife baby is on it’s own as it learns to fly, run or fight back.
Litters of rabbits are emerging in backyards and field edges. Fledgling
songbirds are hopping out of nests. In the next few days, red fox and
coyote pups will be leaving their dens. Add to them the raccoons,
squirrels, opossums, geese and ducks and it’s a regular wildlife
menagerie out there. In most cases, the best thing you can do is
observe; enjoy the scene for a while, and move on. For most species,
not many young make it through the first year. It’s the way Nature works.
One species is often dinner for the next species. If healthy and not
restricted, that wildlife baby’s chance of survival is a lot better...
without you.
But what if it’s truly orphaned? At that point, there is a little
human help available. A summer storm often sends a hollow limb crashing
to the ground. Inside, a den of raccoons or squirrels is left orphans.
That doe lying dead along the June roadside has a couple fawns nearby. A
call to your area conservation officer or a wildlife worker is your best
first step. He or she can help determine whether the animal is abandoned
or merely alone.
That’s when one of Iowa’s 101 licensed wildlife rehabilitators may
get a call. Any one will spend countless hours and a lot of their own
dollars caring for and feeding that injured or orphaned wild animal
before releasing it back to the wild, weeks or months later. All the
more reason to make sure it is truly a critter in need before you pick
it up and take it home.
That wildlife baby belongs in the wild, not a cardboard box.
By Joe Wilkinson
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
The questions have been coming in for a week or more. ‘What do I do
about the fawn in the ditch?’ ‘Should I put the baby bird back in
the nest?’ The frequency will increase, as more of us head outdoors
and as more wildlife babies come tumbling along. In most cases, the
answer is the same. ‘Leave it alone.’
“A guy called, worried about a deer that wouldn’t run away from
him. It was snorting and acting strange,” recalls Tim Thompson of the
first ‘deer call’ of the season. Thompson is the district wildlife
biologist for the Department of Natural Resources in the Iowa City area.
“I told him there was most likely a fawn nearby and the doe was trying
to distract him.”
That scene was a little different than the typical ‘lost fawn’
report, but they’ll start coming in hot and heavy in the weeks ahead.
Memorial Day weekend is the peak of whitetail deer births in Iowa. In
the days that follow, a well-meaning hiker, angler or landowner comes
upon a fawn, curled up and unmoving in the grass and wants to know what
to do. If the fawn is lucky, they won’t ‘rescue it’ before they
make a call.
“Whitetail fawns are born without scent. The doe has a scent. To
protect the baby, she leaves it hidden as she goes off to feed,”
explains Thompson. “All instincts tell the fawn to lie still. When the
mother is done, she comes back to feed the fawn.” That is, unless the
doe senses a predator in the vicinity. At that point, her own instinct
for survival keeps her from returning.
For other wildlife young in Iowa, it is much the same story. Baby birds
may get some help as their parents dive-bomb prospective intruders;
assuming they are there to eat their offspring. In the end, though, a
wildlife baby is on it’s own as it learns to fly, run or fight back.
Litters of rabbits are emerging in backyards and field edges. Fledgling
songbirds are hopping out of nests. In the next few days, red fox and
coyote pups will be leaving their dens. Add to them the raccoons,
squirrels, opossums, geese and ducks and it’s a regular wildlife
menagerie out there. In most cases, the best thing you can do is
observe; enjoy the scene for a while, and move on. For most species,
not many young make it through the first year. It’s the way Nature works.
One species is often dinner for the next species. If healthy and not
restricted, that wildlife baby’s chance of survival is a lot better...
without you.
But what if it’s truly orphaned? At that point, there is a little
human help available. A summer storm often sends a hollow limb crashing
to the ground. Inside, a den of raccoons or squirrels is left orphans.
That doe lying dead along the June roadside has a couple fawns nearby. A
call to your area conservation officer or a wildlife worker is your best
first step. He or she can help determine whether the animal is abandoned
or merely alone.
That’s when one of Iowa’s 101 licensed wildlife rehabilitators may
get a call. Any one will spend countless hours and a lot of their own
dollars caring for and feeding that injured or orphaned wild animal
before releasing it back to the wild, weeks or months later. All the
more reason to make sure it is truly a critter in need before you pick
it up and take it home.
That wildlife baby belongs in the wild, not a cardboard box.