Many of you are aware that I am an apprentice wildlife rehabber.  I have started the journey, and although I have not gotten any animals yet, I am awaiting my inspection and I have to get a pre-series of rabies shots.  So, I won’t be seeing a lot of action until late April or early May I am guessing.  Then, look out!  I am working with someone who rehabs raccoons.  They are so cute, and this stemmed from a discovery in my backyard last year.  Three baby raccoons had fallen out of a tree.  Actually, Harbour was the one to find them, and I took them into the house.  The rehabber I called told me to leave them where I found them, and more than likely the mom would be back to get them.  They were SO cute!  You can see them here.  But, in the end, it was the right thing to do.  Wildlife are always better with the mom.  So, that night I waited on the swingset with my flash light, and sure enough, at dusk this big fat mama raccoon popped her head out of the tree and looked at me as if to say “Okay do-gooder...go on and leave my babies alone.” 

 

Well, as part of my training I took a class called ‘intro to rehab’ and I thought I would pass the information on to you.  It may prove important when you least expect it!

Deer will often ‘hide’ their fawns in tall grass and leave them for the day.  Fawns have no scent.  Therefore, so as not to draw predators to their baby the mother will leave them.  They will be back.  Deer are not always the best decision makers.  Although in this picture you can see she did do an uncanny job of matching the fur, and even the petals from a nearby cherry tree fallen on the deck steps to her baby’s coat...clearly, this was not the most...remote spot she could have chosen.  So, the point is, if you find a fawn you should leave it alone.  They won’t go anywhere by themselves.  It will be tempting, but the best thing to do is to leave them and check on them in the morning.

This site can tell you more about it.

Baby rabbits are the same way.  The mom’s leave the nest for the day.  Interesting thing about baby rabbits, and deer as well, they are considered to be a ‘prey species’ which means they are an important part of the food chain, like it or not!  Another really cool thing about bunnies, they only need to be fed twice a day and are ready to be on their own at age 3 weeks!  Now, in the spring and summer many people find bunny nests.  Again, not the brightest of creatures, and sometimes the nests are not very well disguised or covered.  Often people find them when clearing brush.  If that happens, the best thing to do is cover the nest and babies back up, and like deer, check on them in the morning.  They will be fine, and chances are mom will return and move them to a new location.  Also, if you find a ‘baby bunny’ out in the yard that is alone but seems too tiny to be ‘alone’ chances are it is about a 3-5 week old bunny.  When they first emerge they freeze when in danger.  It may make it so you can pick them up, but you should just move them to a slightly covered area and release them.  Chances are they haven’t developed the ‘flight’ technique!  Here is more on that!

Baby birds are the most common form of kidnapping.  There are several myths about baby birds which cause people to ‘try’ to raise them on their own.  Most famous, if you touch them the mother will reject them.  This is completely false.  They are often blown out of the trees inside the nest and you think you cannot do anything about it.  Well, in fact, you can!  First, if the birds are tiny (like these) and you find them on the ground pick them up and put them back in the nest if you can.  If the whole nest has blown out of the tree you can actually use something like a butter container.  You scoop up the nest remnants and babies and just arrange it as best you can, attach it to the tree solidly.  One thing to make sure of is the edge is strong enough for the moms to land on for feeding.  The third point, and maybe the most common, is when the birds are ‘fledglings’.  This is the stage when they look like awkward teenagers and bounce along the ground only flying a little bit.  They are easy to catch.  This is OKAY.  Leave them be.  If you want to help them bring your cat inside for a few days.  But, truly, this is the circle of life and it is best to leave them while they learn to fly.  When I find wrens and chickadees in my yard as fledglings, and I do every year, I move them to a brushy place, or a bushy place where they can ‘bounce’ up and down on small branches...then I walk away.  The parents are always on guard and calling to them.  The are learning how to hunt, and survive and even if you can catch them, you can let them go and learn how to be birds.  And you should.  Here is more on that.

As North America’s only marsupial, I am having a really hard time lately not falling in love with these creatures.  They are really fascinating creatures.  For example:  the mom may give birth to as many as 27 babies at one time...however, she only has 13 nipples...so, whoever gets there first wins, and the rest die.  Which brings me to something I have never thought about, and has been on my mind since I heard it.  Did you ever think that inside one of those opossums on the side of the road could be 13 babies?  Well, it is true.  So, the opossum is a creature that you can truly ‘rescue’.  Now, this is going to be a bit gross, but, if you see or you yourself happen to hit an opossum and you were inclined to do so, you could get out and check her pouch to see if there are babies.  If so, you can remove them from the nipple (which may be easier said than done) and truly ‘rescue’ them.  Clearly, this is an instance when you would be certain these are orphans.  Here is more on that.

These are a big commitment, and not meant to be pets.  Contact a rehabber if you find one.

The main thing I learned in my rehab class is that aside from the opossum for obvious reasons, you should try not to interfere with mother nature...or mother deer, birds or rabbits.  Many times well intentioned people are unintentionally ‘kidnapping’ young that would otherwise be raised with a parent and complete a circle in your own back yard!  If you are certain what you found is indeed an orphaned animal I would still follow the recommended time standards, in case the female rabbit was ‘another’ female rabbit.  Also, it is very important to know that not ALL counties have the same policy regarding wildlife.  For example, in my county Prince William I understand that if someone calls and says they have baby raccoons animal control is going to come and get the animals.  They are required to do so.  However, these animals will be destroyed.  It is also unlawful to keep wildlife unless you are a ‘certified’ rehabber, so you should be careful regarding that. 

 

I decided to become a rehabber because I wanted the kids to experience wildlife up close and personal, but more importantly I wanted them to understand these are WILD animals, and not pets.  Raccoons are so gorgeous, and I am sure it will be a big boo-hoo moment when they leave, but I want my kids to understand we are helping the only way we can, making it so they can live in the wild as they were intended.