Spring does not only make wild animals more active, but humans also become more active outdoors. This means more human and wildlife contact occurs which makes spring the busiest time of year for wildlife rehabilitators such as PRWC.
An unfortunate thing that is quite common during this time of year is a well-intentioned human doing more harm than good. Not all wildlife one comes across needs to be rescued. More often than not, the baby animal is quite safe or just needs a little help to find their mothers which is their best chance of survival. We strongly encourage people to “put it back” unless it is absolutely necessary to rescue – which is rare.
A wildlife mother knows exactly what her baby needs and does her very best to care for her offspring. Humans who don’t know much about certain species or wildlife behavior generally jump to conclusions that they must intervene. What they don’t realize is that the mother may just be hiding and watching or purposefully staying away from the den so as not to attract predators to her young. Watch from afar to see if mom returns, but don’t stay too close or you will be the cause of her not approaching. However, if you have serious doubts or uncertainty, call your local rehabilitation center and ask for some guidance.
A mother knows how to feed and care for her young and teaches them how to survive in the wild. When we take the babies out of the wild then we are depriving them of critical survival skills. Additionally, the stress of being found by what appears to be a giant predator and then put in a totally different environment away from their mother and home puts a lot of stress on a tiny body.
There is no place like home and nothing like a mother’s nurturing. Wildlife mothers are the best at raising their young and rarely need our help – in fact, most likely they just need us to stay out of their way. That said, PRWC is helping so many wildlife babies due to well-intentioned humans making mistakes and also babies that lost their mothers. Our mission is to rehabilitate and release.
We can help wildlife because you support our mission. If you’d like to support wildlife, donate or symbolically adopt a wildlife patient or resident. We continue to fulfill our mission because you support us thereby supporting wildlife.
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