Ecology

Helping baby wildlife

Amanda Markle
Strawberry Hill Nature Preserve

(4/2022) Spring has arrived, and new life is popping up everywhere you look. Flowers are blooming, leaves are emerging, and all around us, usually hidden away in quiet corners and safe spaces, baby wildlife is being born. When you see a newborn fawn walking beside its mother on spindly legs or find a nest of baby robins in your bushes, it's hard not to be drawn in emotionally by these vulnerable little creatures. What happens when a baby animal is hurt or abandoned? What should you do if you find a young animal alone this spring, and how can you tell if a wild animal truly needs human help?

It's important to realize that animals don’t parent in the same ways we do. What looks like neglect or abandonment from a human perspective can be great parenting for an animal. Mother rabbits, for example, only visit and feed their young once or twice a day. This isn’t lazy parenting on the part of the rabbit but rather a protective behavior. Every time the mother visits her well-hidden nest, she risks alerting predators to the location of her babies. While she would be able to quickly run away and escape a threat should one arise, her newborn kits cannot; by limiting her visits to her young, she is keeping them safe.

Unfortunately, baby animals are sometimes abandoned or injured and need help to survive. If you find an animal you think needs help, your first step should always be the same- call a wildlife rehabilitator. Rehabbers go through years of training; they will be able to help you identify whether the animal needs human intervention, what level of intervention is necessary, and most importantly, will know how to keep both humans and animals safe throughout the process. Far too often, well-intentioned humans will try to help an injured or abandoned animal and end up being the reason why that animal needs to be euthanized or becomes non-releasable.

Wildlife rehabbers train for years to learn how to take care of injured or abandoned animals and have resources and networks of other rehabbers and animal care professionals at their disposal to help them. Perhaps most importantly, a wildlife rehabilitator will know how to keep their patients wild. When human intervention with wildlife is necessary, releasing that animal back into the wild should always be the goal.

Depending on the species and the specific scenario, a wildlife rehabilitator may need to take in a baby animal to keep it alive. In those situations, the best thing to do is keep the animal somewhere safe, quiet, and dark until the rehabilitator can collect them. In many cases, intake isn’t necessary, and a rehabber may be able to advise you of some simple steps to take to help that animal.

Baby bunnies are the number one animal people find and want to help, but in most cases, they should be left alone in their nests. Even if you don’t see the mother visit for days, if the bunnies are staying in their nest, it is almost certain that the mother is caring for them. Don’t bother trying to leave sticks or leaves over the nest to test and see if the mother has visited or not- mother rabbits can be incredibly stealthy and will often be able to visit and nurse her young without disturbing a thing. If you have a dog and are concerned that it might find the babies, the best thing you can do is either leash your dog until the babies are ready to leave the nest, or simply fence off the nest in some way- even an overturned cardboard box staked down can be enough (just make sure you leave an open flap for the mother rabbit).

Baby squirrels found alone also don’t need human intervention in most cases- their parents will want to retrieve them. A wildlife rehabilitator may advise you to renest the baby- simply place the baby in an open box with a blanket, and a bottle of warm water in a sock. Leave the baby alone, or watch from a far distance, and more than likely the baby will be retrieved by a parent and returned to the nest.

Fawns are another springtime baby that often seems to need help but rarely do. Just like in rabbits, mother deer risk giving away the location of a vulnerable baby just by being close, so fawns are often hidden and left alone while the mother looks for food. Fawns will often stay still if a human approaches- that doesn’t mean it’s injured, it’s just trying to hide. Even if a mother doe is killed, it’s not uncommon for fawns to be adopted and cared for by other nearby does, so even if you see a fawn that is wandering around and crying, leaving it to find help on its own is often the best option.

Another commonly found baby this time of year is baby birds, and the same pattern holds- in most cases, your best bet is to leave them alone. People often see fledglings hopping around their backyards and think they need help because they can’t fly yet, but this is perfectly normal songbird behavior, and the parents are usually keeping a watchful eye on their young from nearby. With very young songbirds, a rehabilitator will sometimes advise that you renest them much like you would a baby squirrel, but it's best to wait until you are told to do so by a professional. With waterfowl and raptors, always call a wildlife rehabilitator right away; waterfowl need to be identified so they can be reunited with the correct parents, and raptors are too dangerous to be approached by anyone without proper training.

It’s important to know what not to do when intervening with baby animals. Never feed a baby animal you find- often, a non-professional trying to feed baby wildlife will do more harm than good and can easily kill a fragile newborn. Never, ever, handle wildlife bare-handed, or attempt to handle aggressive wildlife. A hurt or scared animal can easily injure a human. Even a small scratch or lick to a human can be a death sentence for wildlife, especially for rabies vector species, which must be euthanized to be tested. Finally, never try to keep and raise a baby animal you find in the wild.

Wild babies might be cute, but they belong in the wild. Sometimes the right thing to do for an injured, ill, or abandoned baby animal is to allow nature to take its course, but you don’t need to make that decision on your own. Your best option is always to connect with a wildlife rehabilitation professional. These skilled individuals will help you assess the situation and make the best decision for both humans and wildlife.

Amanda Markle is the Environmental Education Manager of the Strawberry Hill Foundation. Strawberry Hill inspires stewardship of our natural world by
connecting the community with educational opportunities.
 Learn more by visiting StrawberryHill.org.