Kidnapping is an unfortunate event when humans steal baby wild animals from their natural homes. Sometimes people kidnap wildlife because they think they are helping or rescuing the baby. Often humans kidnap wildlife because they want an exotic pet.
Taking a wild animal from its home for any reason is kidnapping. If you feel the baby is genuinely orphaned or you can see injuries then contact a wildlife rehabilitator to get their advice.
The purpose of this article is to help both wildlife rehabilitators and people who care about wildlife to learn about wildlife kidnapping and make good decisions to help wild babies.
There are many normal reasons that wildlife babies are left alone.
WILD ANIMAL PETS
BUT IT’S SO CUTE – I WANT TO TAKE CARE OF IT – IT WILL MAKE A GREAT PET
NO NO NO AND NO
First please think of the animal. It deserves to lead a natural life. Not a life in a cage as a show toy. It deserves to be respected. Leave it in the wild. If you are not willing to transport it to a licensed rehabber then walk away and let nature take its course.
A frightened hurt animal is not a photo op. Use your cell phone to call a rehabber or the conservation officer. Don't subject the animal to a selfie with you. This often leads to death from stress.
WILD ANIMALS MAKE BAD PETS
Wildlife rehabilitators get lots of calls from people who have kept wildlife as pets and are now having behavior issues (I know about this personally!).
Take raccoons for example. They are very cute, smart, and amusing as kits. But guess what? HORMONES!
When raccoons reach puberty they turn into typical teenagers, only worse. They bite, they poop everywhere and they become very destructive. If they are living in your house it’s a bad scene.
Often what happens is that their “family” suddenly hates them because they have been “bad” and kicks them out of the house. That raccoon has no idea how to survive.
No one has taught him to fish for food or climb trees to get to safety. These are things a mother raccoon does – or a trained rehabber. That pet will soon die of starvation or become a neighborhood menace and become victims of human abuse and get shot. It’s not worth it!
Interested in learning about how to become a wildlife rehabilitator? Read our article and find out how!
Why Is That Wild Animal Baby Alone?
There are actually many normal reasons that a baby animal may be alone.
Deer leave their babies because the fawn has no odor and they do this for protection
Juveniles, such as foxes and groundhogs, are often just exploring the outdoors as a natural part of maturing
Cottontails are weaned at 4 weeks ( the size of a tennis ball) and look like babies
Parents may just have left the baby to look for food
Mom could have been scared by humans and is watching and waiting for them to leave
Squirrels and baby birds fall out of the nest
Infant squirrel. Photo by Ame Vanorio
Think About These Questions
Wildlife rehabilitators often ask leading questions so that they can ascertain whether there is a need for rehabilitation or can we reunite the baby with its mother.
1. Tell me how you found the baby
2. Describe what the baby was doing when you found them
3. Do you hear or see a mother nearby
4. Does the baby have visual injuries or appear to be unhealthy (emaciated, lice).
FINDERS CALLS TO WILDLIFE REHABBERS OFTEN ARE VERY EMOTIONAL
Fawns are a great example of kidnap victims. They are cute and alone and everyone assumes the worst. I get these calls a lot –
Finder - Hi I found an orphaned baby deer and I don’t know what to do. Please help me!
Rehabber – Yes, ma’am. Can you tell me how you found the baby?
Finder – well I was taking a walk with Trixie, that’s my little dog, and we came across this poor baby all by herself. She looks like she’s starving to death and is just crying and making this sad noise.
Rehabber – ma’am where is the fawn now?
Finder – well she was so distraught that I brought her to the house, put her on the couch and tucked her in. Trixie is keeping her company.
Rehabber – can you text me a picture of the fawn, please. I need a picture to see if the fawn looks healthy.
( At this point I am rolling my eyes and making faces at my phone)
When the picture comes in of a nice healthy fawn I then explain to the caller that deer leave their babies on purpose. I give them a quick lesson on deer parenting and how this is still a very loved baby. I tell the finder to take the fawn back to where they found it (without their dog in tow) and PUT THE BABY BACK!
Sometimes people will argue this point and refuse or make excuses. As a wildlife rehabilitator, I do explain the law at this point and why we have wildlife laws. If they flat out refuse, I say in a nice non-aggressive way – Ma’am if you would like me to send an officer to your house to help you I will do that.
At that point, I end the call, say a quick prayer for the fawn, and try to remember what I was doing! Depending on your state the rehabber may need to document the call.
Some wildlife rehabbers do try to follow through and make sure the fawn gets back. That is a personal decision based on your time, energy, and goals.
WHEN DO WILDLIFE BABIES NEED INTERVENTION?
As a rehabber, it is your job to know when that baby animal needs intervention. Remember that intervention does not necessarily mean you can not attempt to reunite the family. In some cases, some short-term medical intervention may be necessary but you are still within a window of opportunity.
Cases where a quick fix will support health and you can attempt a reunion
Slight dehydration of less than 5%
Parasites – not a heavy load
Abrasions, scraps, shallow wounds where washing and applying ointment will help
Turtles with minimal cracked shells (shell not hanging or exposing muscle or organs)
A slight concussion from being hit by a car or bird window strike that needs monitoring for a few hours
Cases where the baby will need more long-term intervention
Dehydration of over 5 %
Heavy parasite load that interfering with their health and causing dehydration, anemia, diarrhea
Serious wounds where the animal is bleeding has exposed bone or organs or maggots
Possible serious concussion – the animal has been hit by car or baby has fallen on a hard surface
Breathing problems
In shock or unconscious
Cold, low body temp, shivering
Parent is deceased – hit by a car or trapped and killed
Emaciated or starving
Reuniting failed
Baby raccoon in wildlife rehabilitation. Photo by Ame Vanorio
WORKING WITH YOUR LOCAL HUMANE SOCIETY AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS
Working with your local animal control, local and state police is very important. These are people who are out on the front lines and often get the first call. It is important for them to know how to respond effectively.
Wildlife is often a grey area. Education is very important.
I have offered free training to my animal control officers and police/sheriff departments. I have a PowerPoint I made that goes over some basic wildlife parenting, how to determine if the baby is truly orphaned and steps to take.
Don’t assume they have had training in wildlife concerns. Most animal control agencies don’t give training in handling wildlife. This is a good way to get to know those departments and form collaboration opportunities.
WORKING WITH PET SURRENDERS AND PET CONFISCATIONS
Wildlife rehabilitators often get calls on pet surrenders and pet confiscations. A pet surrender is when a kidnap victim has been kept as a pet for a period of time. This may be months or years. Eventually the animal “wilds up” and becomes difficult to handle.
Or that person has been “caught” by a Fish and Wildlife officer and the animal was confiscated. With luck, the FW officer may have given the person time to place the animal with a licensed rehabber. Your officer may show up at your door or you will get a hysterical call from the person with the warning.
Sadly, however, sometimes the confiscated pet is euthanized by the officer.
See my article Everything You Wanted To Know About White-Tailed Deer for a true story about something that happened when I was rehabbing in Kentucky.
As a wildlife rehabilitator, having a plan for these situations is very important. Your plan may be simply that you do not take pet surrenders. Your plan may be that you accept them depending on age and how likely they will be to rehabilitate.
Pet surrenders have their own set of issues and problems. For one, they are teenage or adult animals. Sadly, they are often very very confused and stressed. They are dependent on humans for food, shelter, and a sense of safety. But at the same time, their bodies are telling them “hunt”, “have sex” or “defend yourself”.
Many surrenders are raccoons which along with fawns are the most common kidnap victims. As we all know raccoons are very cute and fun when they are little. But hormones kick in and watch out!
In the past, I have taken in one or two raccoon pet surrenders each year. I charged the owner for that service because they are the ones responsible and it takes money and time to rehabilitate.
I have had the KYFW tell me that you can’t rehabilitate an adult raccoon. I strongly disagree. I have had success in reintroducing pet raccoons to the wild. It is a long process and requires a lot of interventions but the animal’s instincts do kick in. They just need to be supported along the way.
Last Thoughts
I love wildlife rehabilitation. I love that process of raising a baby and seeing it become a wild animal ready for release. But I still recognize that I can never be as good a parent to these wildlife babies as their biological parents. Our first steps should be to ascertain whether wildlife babies need us or need to be reunited.
Author, Ame Vanorio, is the founder of Fox Run Environmental Education Center and has been a licensed wildlife rehabilitator for 10 years.
In spring and summer, people sometimes find baby birds that are outside of their nest. While some of them may be orphaned and really need our help, this is not always the case.
In this article, we want to discuss how to tell if a baby bird needs intervention and how we can care for baby birds in a responsible way.