Vegan News 5.15.13

SPECIAL EDITION: Leave Free Living Animals Alone- especially during the Spring “baby” season.

What to do if you find a baby or injured animal. “Every spring, kind-hearted Hoosiers “rescue” an injured or seemingly abandoned baby wild animal and try to care for it.The DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife has one thing to say: Don’t do it. Picking up a baby animal that is not orphaned or abandoned can harm the animal and take it out of its natural environment where it is meant to be. It’s also illegal.”

Respect Mother Nature with our baby wildlife. “Despite the wintry weather in many parts of the state, spring is here, and with it comes the arrival of baby birds and mammals to Colorado. It’s a good time to remind citizens that newborn wildlife may be found in their yards, along trails, or in open spaces, and the best advice is to leave them alone. Each year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife receives scores of calls from concerned humans about wildlife that have been ‘abandoned’ by adult animals. Many are tempted to “help” a young animal by picking it up or trying to feed it, however it is critical that people understand there is no substitute for their natural parents.”

NH Officials Ask Public To Leave Wildlife Alone. “New Hampshire Fish and Game officials are urging the public not to assume young wildlife they see alone are orphaned and to leave them in the wild. Officials say they are already receiving reports from wildlife rehabilitators of people picking up young animals and assuming they are alone.  Wildlife Programs Supervisor Kent Gustafson says people think they’re doing a good deed but in reality are removing the animals from the care of their parents and exposing them to the risk of disease.”

Wildlife experts: Stay away from Fort Collins’ nesting owls. “Area wildlife experts are asking the public to show restraint and give a family of nesting great horned owls in Fort Collins space and privacy. The owls have become somewhat of a tourist attraction to residents and passers-by alike near Carpenter and Timberline roads, causing traffic backups and endangering animals and humans in the process, said Michael Tincher, rehabilitation coordinator at Rocky Mountain Raptor Program in Fort Collins.”

Photo: Baby Robins, Spring 2013, Ohio