Leave wildlife babies alone

 

Jerry Baldock

Mule deer fawns are all over Sisters these days. Leave them alone, even if you think they’ve been “abandoned.”

Every spring, articles in The Nugget again remind people to leave baby wildlife alone. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is preaching the same message, especially regarding mule deer.

The City of Sisters passed an ordinance against feeding mule deer in hopes of thinning out their number in town. Nevertheless, deer still live in the city and they began dropping fawns about a month or more ago, which are now very visible as they follow mom around. It is common practice for a doe to leave her fawn in some degree of hiding when she decides to go searching for food

A lone fawn in a person’s backyard seems to indicate to some local folks that it has been deserted by its mom and has to be picked up and cared for. Wildlife biologists recommend that you just ignore the fawn in your yard. Leave it alone; don’t even go near it.

There is no discernible scent to a fawn; even a coyote or cougar can’t usually smell one. But if a human goes traipsing around the fawn their scent will be as strong as a skunk to a predator looking for a meal. In addition, the doe will go into stress looking for her baby.

A fawn can spend several days in one spot as mom comes back at night and nurses it, then leaves before dawn to pursue her goals.

There’s a similar situation with wild birds.

Native Bird Care, a wild bird rehabilitation facility near Sisters operated by Elise Wolf, has been caring for orphaned baby birds for years. Wolf says, “Baby and young birds can wind up on the ground, in the hands of humans for all sorts of reasons. Predators (cats, raccoons, jays, crows, ravens, squirrels) can ransack the nest and kill babies or parents. Weather, wind, and human interference like limbing trees in the summer can also result in babies in distress.”

Going boating, fishing, or heading to the lake? Waterbirds (ducks, geese, grebes, rails) and shorebirds (sandpipers, killdeer) nest along lakes and river shorelines. These birds’ babies all are born with down and can walk. They are supposed to be on the ground.

This nesting season, a baby shorebird was taken to Native Bird Care because several young folks were playing with it. Handling baby birds stress them to the point of death; they are easily injured. Wolf says, “Please, never play with wild baby animals.”

If you go to the high lakes to play in the water, don’t turn your dog(s) loose. The ground-nesting birds will be spooked from their nests and the hatchlings will scatter in fright.

Some of these birds build their nests in the reeds actually on the water. Be careful poking around in the marshes and reeds of a lake during spring and summer. A grebe Wolf is rehabbing (named Itsy-Bitsy) was separated from her family by a too-curious human paddling into the reeds. Wolf advises to give these areas a wide berth in this time of year; she doesn’t want anyone to accidentally step on babies or eggs.

The obvious thing to do if you stumble on one of these babies or nests is to leave the area as quickly as possible so as not to force the youngster any further from home.

courtesy Native Bird Care

One of our local grebes undergoing rehabilitation at Native Bird Care of Sisters, who is the acting foster parent.

A few nestlings (doves, robins, jays) leave the nest before they can fly (possessing feathered, short tails). Parents care for them as they hop along in the branches of a tree. If the nestling observed is active, warm, not hurt, and parents are agitated, just place it on a tree branch — mom and dad will take it from there.

Except for baby doves, says Wolf, any bird sitting still, not moving, and easy to pick up are often birds in distress. Those who have hit windows at times will sit stunned, usually injured, and occasionally need help.

Wolf counsels, “We will never see most of birds’ nests as they excel at hiding. But eventually the babies must leave the nest. Some birds must learn to find food on the ground — they are ground-feeders. As long as they appear to be active, assume it is natural for them to be where they are and leave them alone.”

To learn more about when to rescue a bird, visit www.nativebirdcare.org.

 

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