Consult experts before rescuing wildlife

By Jessica Coleman    
Staff Writer 
    Spring has arrived, and with it has come baby animals. With the arrival of baby animals often comes a human hypervigilance regarding rescue that wildlife organizations end up picking up the tab for. 
    Animals, especially wildlife, often appear abandoned or distressed to those who don’t understand their instinctual behavior. Well-intentioned humans may see a fawn alone in a field and think it is abandoned or orphaned. They may not know that does leave their fawns alone for long periods of time, to dissuade predators by keeping her scent away from the baby. 
    “People mistake them for orphans,” said Wildlife rehabilitator Susan Dancer, who is one of the only permitted deer rehabilitators in the area. “They just don’t understand the natural history of the species. Its anthropomorphic behavior [attributing human qualities to non-human animals or objects].  People think that animals think and feel and react like we do, and they don’t.  Mom doesn’t stay with the baby. She nurses them in the morning and the evening, and that’s it. You can watch a fawn all day and never see its mother, and that is perfectly normal.”
    In fact, most fawns that are brought to the rescue, are taken right back to where they came from.
    “We probably get 30 calls a season,” said Dancer, “And of those, we only need to take in about six.” 
    So, if nothing humans think is a sign of distress actually is, what are the signs that a fawn needs to be rescued?
    “You’re looking for obvious signs of injury,” said Dancer, “Any sign of fire ant bites, if it’s standing and wandering around and crying out , like a baby goat, that is a sign something is up. If the mother is obviously dead, like on the road nearby.”
    Deer aren’t the only animals kidnapped in the name of rescue. Rabbit behavior is also widely misunderstood by lay people, meaning baby rabbits are brought in constantly by those who believe they’ve done a good deed.
    “Unless a mother is known dead, the bunnies are likely fine,” said Dancer, “What to do with bunnies you suspect are orphaned is, if there are no obvious injuries, kind of put the nest back together – its just going to be a shallow hole in the ground anyway – pull the fluff and dead grass that is there back into the nest, and take a couple of weeds and put them across the top in an X. Come back in a few hours or in the morning, and then you can tell for sure if it’s been disturbed by mama.”
    Mama rabbits only check their nests twice a day, usually in the dark, and bunnies are notoriously difficult to raise in captivity. Rehabilitators believe they should not be disturbed unless absolutely necessary, because of the likelihood that they won’t survive in human care. 
    Birds are another animal often unnecessarily rescued. There is a widespread myth that a mother bird won’t feed a baby that has been touched by humans, so instead of putting the chick back in the nest, humans attempt to take them home and raise them.
    “It is a myth that the mother bird won’t care for it if it’s been touched by humans,” said rehabilitator Cherie Allen of Gulf Coast Wildlife Rescue, “Most birds don’t have much sense of smell anyway. You can put a baby bird back in its nest and it’s mother will be happy you did.”
    Allen also touched on other times rescue isn’t necessary. For example, a fledgling bird is an adolescent bird who just left the nest, and will appear to be a baby to untrained eyes, but is likely fine.
    “If it appears healthy, but is hopping around, you can put it back in the nest, but the parents are there,” said Allen, “The parents haven’t left their baby.”
    Birds do need to be rescued, however, if they’ve been caught by a family pet, especially a cat, or if it is covered in insects.
    “It always needs rescue if they’ve been cat caught. They need antibiotics.  If it’s got flies around it, or ants, it needs to be rescued. 
    Allen and Dancer both agree that when in doubt, if there is not imminent danger like a present predator or serious injury, call a rehabber first. A list of rehabilitators by county can be found on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website, although since Jackson County has sub-permitted  rehabilitators and not permittees, none will show in Jackson County. Searching surrounding counties, like Matagorda, will yield results. Gulf Coast Wildlife Rescue can also be reached at (979) 849-0184. 
    “It’s always best,” said Dancer, “to speak to a rehabber before you pick up an animal. Do not feed it anything, because feeding it the wrong thing can be deadly to an animal.”