“Orphaned” Baby Animals
From now through mid-July I will be receiving a lot of phone calls from friendly people who have found and/or want to adopt “orphaned” animals. It is fairly common that I hear about baby foxes, raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, deer and birds being taken home for pets. In most cases, the baby animal has not been abandoned by their mother.
Many adult animals will leave their young for extended periods of time during the day. Take deer for example. During the first couple of weeks after a fawn is born, they are left by their mother during the day. The mother will return after dark to feed her fawn. Reducing the contact with her fawn will keep predators from clueing in on the helpless fawns.
The best advice that I can give most people who call me about these orphaned animals is to return them immediately to the site where they were found. It may be a difficult situation to swallow, but ultimately it is what is best for the animal. The longer an animal is away from its parents or its natural surroundings, the less likely it has to survive.
In the State of Missouri it is against the law to keep wild animals unless they were legally taken. The Department of Conservation does not issue permits for people to keep “orphaned wildlife.” Wildlife rehabilitation centers usually are not an option, because they are often financially strained rescuing less common species.
It is important to remember that wild animals are best left in the wild and that those cute little fuzzy animals can and will grow up to be wild and mean. So please, this spring/summer, if you find a baby animal leave it where you found it. Maybe take a picture and enjoy the moment, but quickly leave the area and the baby animal undisturbed. The baby will be better off in the long run. For questions about this matter or any other conservation related issues please contact me, Rudd Binsbacher, at 660-341-1595.
