With spring comes warming weather, longer days, blooming flowers, and lots of young wildlife. In Colorado, May through the end of June comes with an increase in young deer, elk, pronghorn, moose, rabbits, foxes, skunks, raccoons, bats, birds, and other animals showing up in backyards and on trails, and Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) is reminding the public to leave these young animals alone.
CPW and local parks receive office visits and calls from people claiming to have “rescued” young wildlife every year in the spring. In reality, these people usually orphan these young animals by essentially kidnapping them from their natural environment, picking them up, bringing them to a CPW office, or even taking them home.
“It is critical that people understand humans are poor substitutes for an animal’s natural parents. In almost every case, picking up baby wildlife is the wrong thing to do. When we handle young wildlife, we transfer our scent to the animal. Our smell can cause its mother not to recognize her own baby. This can result in true abandonment of healthy offspring, especially deer. If you find young wildlife, enjoy a quick glimpse, leave the animal where it is and keep pets out of the area. Quietly observe the animal from a distance using binoculars and don’t hover so close that the wild parents are afraid to return to the area.” – District Wildlife Manager Drew Vrbenec
Instead of approaching or touching these young animals, the best way to help parents in the wild is by leaving their young in their natural habitat and allowing them to grow and thrive in the wild. Human disturbances can reduce a females’ chance of raising their offspring successfully, causing stress for wild animals.
The public should never feed or approach young wildlife. Instead, watch the animals from a distance, keep dogs leashed and away from wild animals, and be ‘bear prepared’ to help reduce bear-human conflicts. If you see a young animal that appears sick or injured, leave it be and call your local Colorado Parks and Wildlife office for guidance.
