KEY POINTS
- Determine if the bird is injured or abandoned. Sometimes baby animals appear to be abandoned, but the parents are actually nearby, out of eyesight.
- Do not attempt to keep a wild animal of any species as a pet, or attempt to do rehab on your own. Depending on the species and where you live, this can be illegal.
- Do not handle, feed, or water an injured animal without advice from a professional.
- Bring any injured animal to a licensed rehabber.
Spring has sprung, and animals of every species are having babies in the new year. Unfortunately, sometimes baby animals become hurt or separated from their parents. What should you do if you find one?
The answer to this question heavily depends on the species. Overall, there are three important points to be conscious of when you find a hurt or abandoned animal:
- Depending on which state you are from, there could be laws governing what you can and cannot do, especially with mammals and reptiles. Become familiar with your state’s wildlife laws.
- Many animals, especially mammals, can carry disease that can be transmitted to humans. Touching or handling any animal, especially mammals, can carry serious health risks. You should never pick up an animal without professional help.
- Unless a wildlife rehabber specifically tells you to, you should never feed or offer water to a hurt animal of any species. Offering food and water can worsen injuries, induce hypothermia or aspiration, and cause developmental problems in baby animals. It is especially important to not offer food to any carnivorous animal, especially hawks and owls.
Contacting a Wildlife Rehabber
If you find a hurt or baby animal, you must bring it to a facility that is licensed with your state’s Fish and Wildlife Division for that particular species. Not all facilities are licensed for all animals. If a facility is not listed with your state’s Fish and Wildlife Division, then it is not licensed and you should not bring the animal there. You can find a list of how to contact and locate your local wildlife rehabber on this page on the website for the Humane Society of United States.
Hurt Animals
When you find a hurt or abandoned baby animal, the first thing that you need to do is to determine if it is injured. Common injuries include:
- Does it have an obvious broken bone?
- Is it bleeding?
- Is it having trouble walking or flying?
- Do you see evidence of a destroyed nest, such as a fallen tree, broken eggs, etc.?
- Can you find evidence of a dead parent?
- Was the animal brought to you by a cat or a dog?
If an animal displays any of these signs of obvious injury, the best thing to do is to call for a professional, licensed wildlife rehabber and ask for advice. Remember, you should never pick up or feed a hurt animal without professional advice. Any animal of any age or size can hurt you or be carrying disease.
Abandoned Animals
Birds
If you find an abandoned baby bird, here are the steps that you should take:
- Determine if the bird is a raptor, songbird, or waterbird:
A raptor is a carnivorous bird with a sharp beak and large talons, such as a hawk or owl. A songbird is a small, non-carnivorous bird such as a finch, mockingbird, or warbler. A waterbird is any bird that lives around the water, such as a goose, duck, or heron.
Generally, if you find a hurt songbird, it should be safe for you to transport the bird yourself back to its nest or to a wildlife rehabber. However, raptors and some waterbirds, even as babies, can be dangerous to humans. It is safe to transport baby ducks and geese. You should not attempt to handle baby or adult raptors, adult geese and swans, or baby or adult large waterbirds, including herons, cormorants, or loons.
2. Determine the bird’s age:
A. If the bird has closed eyes, is featherless, or has only small pinfeathers, it is a nestling and is too young to be out of the nest. Look around for the nest and any nearby parents. If the bird is not hurt and you can locate the nest, gently pick up the bird and put it back in the nest.
If you cannot locate the nest or parents, call your local licensed avian rehabber and ask if and when you can bring the bird into their facility.
Here is an image of a nestling:
B. If the bird has open eyes, is covered in feathers, is mobile, cannot fly, but hops around on the ground, it is a fledgling and is old enough to be out of the nest. Fledglings leave the nest and are semi-independent, foraging for food and exploring on their own while their parents watch over them, usually out of eyesight. Unless a fledgling is visibly injured, the majority of the time, fledglings do not need human intervention.
Many people are often concerned when they find these baby birds that cannot fly, and accidentally, but with good intentions, kidnap them and bring them to rehabbers when they do not need help. The only two scenarios where a fledgling needs to be brought to a rehabber are if it is visibly injured or if it was attacked by a cat or dog.
Here is an image of a fledgling. Remember, if it is not visibly injured, leave it alone and have fun watching it grow up!
3. If you determine that a bird is injured and needs to be transported, you should call for professional help unless the bird is a songbird or baby duck or goose. All raptors and most large waterbirds can injure you if you attempt to handle them.
Songbirds can be transported in a shoebox or a paper grocery bag. Any bird can be transported in a cardboard box. Any lining should be either pine straw or a non-terry cloth, such as a pillowcase. Put all birds in a warm, dark, quiet place away from children and pets.
Resist the urge to check on them repeatedly, as this will only stress them. Injured or unfeathered birds need heat – so if you have access to an incubator or a source of heat, place the birds near the heat source until you can transport them. Be careful not to place them too close or you can overheat them.
When transporting, keep the air conditioning in the car on, the radio off or very low, and keep talking to a minimum. Many hurt animals are in shock and the noise can stress them and lower their chances of survival.
4. Unless your local licensed avian rehabber tells you otherwise, do not offer any bird food or water for any reason. Instead, transport them to the rehab facility as soon as possible.
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 forbids the sale, purchase, and possession of native birds, their bodies, eggs, feathers, or any body parts. If you find a hurt or abandoned native bird, no matter which state you live in, it is illegal to keep it as a pet or attempt to rehab it yourself.
Baby Deer (Fawns)
Many times in the spring, people will come across a fawn lying alone in the grass, like this:
Believe it or not, most of the time, these fawns are not hurt. It is normal for them to lie completely still in the grass for long periods of time while their mother is foraging. She only returns to the fawn a few times a day so that she does not attract predators. Does will not return to their fawns until humans are out of sight. Unless the fawn is visibly injured, do not attempt to handle it. It is just doing what fawns are supposed to do!
Rabbits
Baby rabbits are called “kits”. Rabbits make nests is fields and lawns that can be difficult to see. Their nests look like piles of dead grass and fur:
Rabbit nest photo, 2020, courtesy of Beverly Hutto
Just like deer, a rabbit doe will only return to her nest a few times a day so that she will not attract predators. Do not touch the kits – rabbits will abandon their young if they can smell a human scent on the babies.
Unless the rabbit kits are visibly injured, they do not need help, and it is best to leave them alone and watch from a distance!
Squirrels
If a squirrel is active and uninjured, it does not need human intervention. Generally, the only times that a squirrel needs to be taken to a wildlife rehabilitator is if it is visibly injured, or if the squirrel or nest has fallen from a tree. Sometimes, the mother squirrel will come back to retrieve her fallen babies, so it is best to leave any felled babies for a little while to make sure that their mother hasn’t abandoned them.
In the case that baby squirrels are truly abandoned, especially if their eyes are closed or they do not have fur, the best first course of action is to call your local licensed squirrel rehabilitator to ask for advice. If you wear gloves, baby squirrels can be gently placed in a shoebox and taken to a rehabilitator.
Raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bats
Raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bats in the United States are what are called “high-risk rabies vectors”. This means that these four species of animals are at a high risk of carrying the rabies virus, which is transmissible to humans and has a nearly 100% fatality rate. Raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bats should NEVER be handled by non-professionals.
If you do have physical contact with one of these animals, contact your doctor and ask for advice. High-risk rabies vectors can only be rehabbed by certain wildlife rehabbers – not all facilities have a license to rehab them.
If you find a hurt or abandoned raccoon, skunk, fox, or bat, call your local high-risk rabies vector rehabilitator. If you cannot find one or do not have one, you can call your local animal control or your local Game Warden with DCNR.
You can read more about the rabies virus on the CDC’s webpage here, and more about wild animals and rabies on the CDC’s wild animal rabies page here.
Reptiles
What you should do with an injured reptile depends on the species. If you find an injured reptile, before handling it, the first thing you should do is contact your local wildlife rehabber and ask them what to do with the species you have found. Turtles, tortoises, and small lizards may be able to be transferred to a cardboard box and taken to a wildlife rehabber yourself.
You should NEVER handle or approach a snake unless you know that it is nonvenomous, and snapping turtles should only be handled by professionals. If you cannot contact a wildlife rehabber, then call your local game warden or animal control.
Reptiles can carry salmonella, so if you do choose to handle them, always wear gloves, don’t touch your face after you handle them, and wash your hands as soon as you can after handling them.
Coyotes, bobcats, badgers, bears, wolves, cougars, and other carnivorous animals
Carnivorous animals are very dangerous to humans, even as babies. Never attempt to handle or approach a large carnivorous animal, even if it is injured. Always call a wildlife rehabber or a game warden when dealing with large carnivorous animals.
Elk, moose, caribou, bison, etc.
Large ungulates (hoofed mammals) behave in the same way as deer – they often leave their young hidden and only check on them a few times a day. Usually the mother is nearby. Bison, moose, and other large ungulates are very dangerous, and they are protective of their young and known to charge.
If you do find a young elk, moose, caribou, or bison that you feel needs help, please call your local wildlife rehabber or game warden, and do not attempt to approach the animal on your own.
In summary, if you find a hurt or abandoned animal of any species or age and are not sure what to do, the best course of action is to call your local wildlife rehabilitator or Game Warden before handling any animal. You can bring some animals, such as songbirds and squirrels, to a rehabilitator yourself, but dangerous animals, such as raptors, high-risk rabies vectors, or carnivores, should only be handled by professionals. Make sure that an animal truly is hurt or abandoned before taking it out of its environment and bringing it to a rehabilitation facility, and do not offer any animal food or water for any reason.
