By Maureen Keilty
Living with Wildlife Advisory Board
You see big eyes, a thin coat of shivering feathers, and your heart tells you, “Help me, I’ve been abandoned!” However, your brain should shout, “Leave it alone!”
Baby wildlife – be it a dazed fledging resting on a windowsill, a spotted fawn curled on the lawn or a kit fox balancing a fence rail – often appear alone and unprotected. They are neither. Their parents are usually nearby. So resist your human instinct to bring the animal inside.
Doing so is a “death sentence,” says Don Bruning, Living with Wildlife Advisory board member and former Bronx Zoo curator and bird researcher.
He advises protecting nestlings from cats and dogs by keeping pets inside until the young birds fly away. He also recommends leaving eggs alone as parent birds typically remove undeveloped eggs from the nest.
Kristi Strieffert, owner of For the Birds and a writer for Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology for the past two decades, offers more tips for dealing with birds:
Be aware that fledglings are most vulnerable when learning to fly from mid-June through August. During this time, place a hunting inhibitor bib on cats when they are outside.
Place decals on windows to prevent birds from colliding into the glass.
A bird that hits a window is typically stunned. Place a cardboard box over it for 15 minutes, then remove it and the bird usually can fly away.
When birds, particularly hummingbirds, fly into the home, open all windows and doors leading outside. Coax the bird out with a butterfly net or pillowcase draped over a broom. If possible, simply leave the room and the bird will find its way out.
Bluebird boxes should now be installed on trees in open areas. Clean out existing boxes to prevent starlings or house sparrows from nesting.
For information about bird behavior, visit www.forthebirdsdurango.com.
Tara Bodine, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator with the Durango Animal Hospital, says, “Nine times out of 10 what people think is an injured bird is a bird learning to fly. Away from its nest, a fledging can become over-heated or too cold. Both conditions require leaving the bird alone, the parent is nearby.”
For injured birds, call Durango Animal Hospital at 247-3174. Technicians and veterinarians can determine animals’ medical needs.
Spring’s fawning season, the second and third week of June, “is a time when people should be particularly vigilant about their dogs at home and while hiking,” says Aran Johnson LWAB member and Southern Ute Indian Tribe wildlife biologist.
Johnson, who has studied mule deer populations for the past decade, says fawns, lacking the strength to follow their moms, often appear abandoned.
He suggests:
Always leave seemingly “abandoned” fawns alone. Does often leave their scentless babies in the same place for several consecutive days. Human contact with young deer increases detection from predators.
While summer hiking, keep dogs leashed. Fawns have little chance of outrunning predators.
“Even our friendliest dogs have predatory instincts that can be triggered when a fawn bolts from the brush,” Johnson says.
Check your fencing, making certain the height allows deer to jump over (42 inches maximum), while allowing fawns under (16 inches minimum from ground). “It troubles me to watch a fawn run up and down a fence that mom has jumped over,” says Johnson.
For information about deer friendly fencing, visit www.wildsmart.org.
Drivers should be alert for young deer slowly crossing roads.
The same “leave them alone” approach applies to baby raccoons, skunks, fox and all other wildlife.
“Kidnapping” is what Carole Withers, Durango’s former raptor rehabilitator, calls well-intentioned baby wildlife rescues.
She says few rescuers realize that only birds can teach their young to fly, that raccoons have to be taught what’s edible and how to forage and that untrained humans are not capable of teaching these basic skills to wildlife.
“Not only is rescuing wildlife harmful to the animal, it’s potentially dangerous for untrained people,” Withers says. Rabies incidences in Colorado’s wildlife are among the highest in raccoons, bats and skunks.
Maureen Keilty is chairwoman of the La Plata County Living with Wildlife Advisory Board.