LIFE

What do you do if you find injured or orphaned wildlife?

Stacey Scarce
Stacey Scarce

If you come upon an injured adult, call wildlife and fisheries or a local wildlife rehabilitator. In my experience (and I have some training), I have donned leather gloves and used a sheet and carrier to capture injured raptors for transport, but only under dire circumstances. Always contact a licensed rehabber or wildlife agent to get instructions. If you find any wildlife, whether an adult or baby that is obviously injured, call a rehabber immediately. In all cases, keep predators away such as dogs and cats. Minimize all noise nearby and do not allow people near the animal.

If you find a baby bird that is barely feathered, put it in a basket (like a strawberry basket or woven basket). If a basket is not available, punch holes in a Cool Whip-sized container (the sides should not be too high) in order to drain any possible rain. Then tack it as high as you can onto the nearest tree so predators cannot reach it. The adult bird will not abandon the baby bird if you touch it, but you should use gloves as birds can carry mites. If a bird is brought to you by a cat or dog, call a rehabber immediately. If the bird is hopping around on the ground and has some tail feathers, it is probably fledging which means the parents are nearby and feeding it until it can fly on its own. Keep watch for a couple hours to be sure parents are feeding the fledgling before you interfere, the parents are much more capable of raising their young than we are.

If you run across the following wildlife situations, call a registered wildlife rehabber to get instruction. If you find a lone opossum, it probably fell off the mother without her knowing and may indeed be abandoned. If you find young raccoons, keep predators away and watch for a few hours to see if the mother retrieves it before intervening. Rabbits are on their own when they are about 4 inches long — eyes open and ears erect. If you find a nest, the mom will not visit often to feed it, so she doesn't attract predators. You can put a tic-tac-toe pattern of string to see if she returns. Sometimes squirrels are pushed out of the nest or fall out. Wait to see if the parent will attend to them before you interfere.

Keep cat food and dog food indoors at night so that you don't attract nocturnal wildlife with a source of food. Just because you like to see those raccoons and opossums feeding at your dog bowl, doesn't mean your neighbors do. People are relocating or killing neighborhood wildlife all the time. The problem is that if there is a food source, others will come, so it is an unending battle. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has a web page with a list of licensed wildlife rehabilitators: http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/wildlife/rehab

Stacey Scarce is the parish naturalist and an avid outdoor enthusiast who guides backpacking and paddling trips throughout the region.

Racoons