Northwest Iowa — Springtime means baby season for Iowa wildlife. And on occasion, these cute fluffy and feathery, clumsy and gangly babies are discovered all alone and well-meaning people take them home and call the Department of Natural Resources.
While the “rescuer” may have had the best intentions, the DNR says they likely have doomed the very animal they aimed to save.
Karen Kinkead, Wildlife Diversity Program coordinator for the Iowa DNR says that many wildlife babies die soon after “rescue” from the stress of being handled, talked to, and placed into the unfamiliar surroundings. Should they survive this trauma, she says they often succumb more slowly to starvation from improper nourishment, pneumonia or other human-caused sicknesses.
She says that rescuing a baby from its mother not only shows bad judgment, it’s illegal. She says that most mammals are nocturnal. Mother will hide her young during the day so she can sleep or look for food so it’s perfectly normal for the young to be alone or unattended during the day. She says people shouldn’t assume a fawn or a nest full of baby cottontails or raccoons are orphaned.
Some babies take as little as four or five days, and others take weeks or even months to become independent. Most wildlife babies leave before they can care for themselves. They may become widely scattered during this fledgling period, but remain under the direct care and feeding of their parents, according to Kinkead. She says most birds have less than a 20 percent chance of surviving their first year, yet the best chance for them to survive is if they are left in the wild.
She says the DNR appreciates the passion people have to protect deer fawns. But, with Chronic Wasting Disease all it takes is one infected deer to be taken to a pen or other area where it can infect other deer and the environment, then the likelihood of any healthy deer getting sick at the facility increases dramatically.
Experts say the best chance for fawns or baby ducks, raccoons, skunks, and birds to survive is for them to be left alone, in the wild.
If you’re concerned, at the very least, call the DNR first before you act.
