Leave it!!

No, I'm not talking about that command we teach our dogs. I'm saying "LEAVE IT!" to YOU.

One of the most heartbreaking aspects of my job occurs during this time of year. I work in a vet hospital that is a participating hospital with a local shelter that provides care for injured and orphaned wild life brought to them. This works in a few different ways.

1. An individual calls us about the wildlife creature and we are required to refer them to the wildlife facility. They call the facility and then the facility calls us and gives us the okay to take the animal into our care until it is stable or recovering if need be.

2. The wildlife facility calls us because an individual called them or dropped off the critter in their care and it needs hospital care.

The only problem with this arrangement is that much of the time there is no injury involved and the person simply found a baby by itself and out of their misplaced compassion scooped up the baby and brought in to us. We are then faced with a baby raccoon, cormarant, blue jay, owl, fawn...whatever...that needs around the clock care and there's probably a momma out there looking for her baby.

At this time of year the wildlife facility becomes over run with healthy baby raccoons and rabbits. We try so hard to get the good samaritan to take the baby back to where they found it so that the momma will find it and almost every time the person refuses. They're convinced that the baby will die and they especially don't want their pet to find it or they are afraid that their children will be traumatized if this woodland creature was to perish.

We understand the desire to help, it's really a GOOD THING and we are glad people have such compassion toward the wild animals. However, healthy babies probably have a momma out there hunting or maybe scouting a new area and will be back for them eventually. You're truly doing a disservice to the wild critter when you take them from their habitat. For instance, wild rabbits do not do well at all when in captivity. When you bring in little baby bunnies you have signed their death warrant. Momma only comes around twice a day to feed them and just imagine her coming back to an empty nest!

LEAVE IT!

If you find a baby mammal or bird..

A Guide to Assisting Wildlife Babies