To help baby animals survive, leave them alone

If you’re out and about outside or even at home and you notice a baby animal alone, don’t take pity. Take off. You might think you’re saving a life, but you’re actually risking it.

It’s important to understand that wildlife care for their young much differently than humans One strategy that some species, particularly those species typically preyed upon by other animals (deer, rabbits, birds), use is to distance themselves from their young for many hours at a time. This helps to keep predators away from their young. For example, fawns are born without a scent, and it is safer for them if their mother, who has a scent, is not nearby. This also can potentially distract a predator into focusing on the doe rather than its offspring.

Wild animals thrive better where they have plenty of natural habitat (food, water, shelter, space). The potential to spread wildlife disease is also a good reason to leave young wildlife alone. Baby ground squirrels, racoons and rabbits can carry zoonotic diseases, which means diseases that are infectious for humans. Examples include plague, hemorrhagic diseases and tularemia.

If you see a baby animal, whether a goose or a grizzly, keep your distance and leave it alone. Handling baby animals can be dangerous, and usually once young animals are picked up by people they can’t be rehabilitated.

FWP does not accept, hold or rehabilitate moose, deer, elk and most other animals, including waterfowl. If you bring a deer or elk to FWP, you'll be asked to take the animal back to the site where it was found.  If the animal can't be returned, it may need to be humanely euthanized. 

What can you do?

• Leave it there. It’s natural for deer, elk, rabbits and birds to leave their young alone for extended periods of time.
• Control your dog. Keep your dog under control, especially in the spring when newborn wildlife is most vulnerable. Pet owners can be cited and dogs that harass or kill wildlife may by law have to be destroyed.
• Keep cats indoors. Many birds nest and feed on the ground. Young birds are also learning how to fly, making them vulnerable to cats. The bacteria in cat saliva are toxic to birds, so even if a cat does not immediately kill a bird, its bite often leads to infection and death.
• Keep in mind. It is illegal to possess and care for a live animal taken from the wild.

If you are unsure if an animal needs help, call your local wildlife biologist.

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