How to Handle a Wildlife Emergency

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-to-handle-a-wildlife-emergency.html

posted by Annie B. Bond May 5, 1999 1:11 am

filed under: Healthy Home, Nature & Wildlife

40 comments

By Annie B. Bond, Care2 Green Living Executive Producer

Animals are so busy this time of year caring for their young that they don’t always see the car coming, and they can get in other kinds of danger too. So if you see an injured animal, what should you do? Should you pick up a bird that has just been hit by a car? What about a baby squirrel that is alone and appears abandoned? Should you feed them? Sometimes the answers to these questions aren’t very obvious, and in one’s impulse to help it is possible to make a situation worse for the animal, and possibly dangerous for yourself.

Find out the best ways to deal with wildlife emergencies, right here.

Fortunately, the Internet has a wealth of information to teach us how to handle such an emergency. Here are a few:

WildAgain advises on ways to prevent or humanely resolve human-wildlife conflicts as well as rehabilitates small wild native mammals from the local area for release back to the wild.
The National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association is devoted to wildlife rehabilitation and contributing to the preservation of natural ecosystems.
The Wildlife Rehabilitation Training Center provides veterinary medical care to injured, ill, and orphaned wildlife, and offer interesting Wildlife Rehabilitation Training
Brochures.
For locating U.S. wildlife rehabilitators listed by state, or a link for international wildlife rehabilitation centers, click Locating a Wildlife Rehabilitator.
The
International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council offers a recruiting brochure for people who have interest in becoming wildlife rehabilitators.

More on Nature & Wildlife (55 articles available)
More from Annie B. Bond (3189 articles available)

40 comments

Earthquake Preparedness: Are You Ready For 6.7?

To be honest, I am not prepared for the 6.7 magnitude…

(30 comments)
4 Ways to Be Safer

Are you prepared if there is an emergency in your…
Green Tips from Bill Trash

Every month I carefully set aside the bills until they all…

(5 comments)

40 comments

add your comment »

40 Comments add a comment »

Jeffrey A. says
Oct 22, 2007 5:44 PM

Please tell the Canadian Government to stop ravaging wildlife and restore funding to ALL elements of the Ministry of the Environment!

flag as inappropriate

washthe hands says
Oct 22, 2007 5:22 PM

I love animals and help him allaways I can.
Thank's you too!

flag as inappropriate

Wen Cheng says
Oct 22, 2007 4:57 PM

Thanks for your grace and help =)
May you be blessed with all God's kingdom.

flag as inappropriate

Yun Chen says
Oct 22, 2007 4:05 PM

good tips

flag as inappropriate

Steve Conrad says
Oct 22, 2007 3:40 PM

Very helpful information! Thanks for providing it and for helping me to become better educated on this issue.

flag as inappropriate

Gila Atwood says
Oct 22, 2007 3:26 PM

Bird fledgelings (partially feathered baby birds that have left the nest but not yet independent) often seem to be abandonned but in this case it is usually unnecessary to call a rehabilitator and almost always harmful to try to raise the fledgeling. Usually the parents are not far away, can hear the chick calling and will come down and continue to feed it as soon as humans back off. Better not to handle it but most birds have hardly any sense of smell and you don't have to worry about a touch causing abandonment. Best policy for healthy fledgelings is to back off and allow the parents to care for their own, and usually better than we would.

flag as inappropriate

Chelsea Jewett says
Oct 22, 2007 3:17 PM

My boyfriend once found two squirrels, babies. They were abandoned on the sidewalk, dangerously close to a busy road. He brought them home, and he and his mother raised them. Even living in a house with humans, they remained wild animals. I loved coming to their house to see them. His mother released the two squirrels, known as Squigglez and Nibblerz, back into the wild a few months ago. She cheaks up on them now and again, and they have rehabitated very nicely. So I understand your advice, but from this personal experience, I see that helping an animal is okay, as long as, like my boyfriend's mother, you know howto do it properly.

flag as inappropriate

Sonya Dobson says
Oct 22, 2007 1:12 PM

Thanks thats great to know, i have always been the 1 to rush & help but i know better now & i will do the right thing from now on !!!

flag as inappropriate

Ami Minckler says
Oct 22, 2007 10:56 AM

Thanks to the wildlife refuge I have been able to watch the release of both a baby raccoon and a young squirrel. There is nothing more satisfying then watching them run off and back into the woods to lead the rest of their lives in peace.

flag as inappropriate

sharon c. says
Oct 22, 2007 10:55 AM

Great ideas ! But what do you do when your in the middle of nowhere on a trip in a strange place and have no idea who to call? A central place to call for info would be a great thing!!.

flag as inappropriate

Please enter your comment.

who's talking about this story?

Trackback URL

Disclaimer: Care2.com does not warrant and shall have no liability for information provided in this newsletter or on Care2.com. Each individual person, fabric, or material may react differently to a particular suggested use. It is recommended that before you begin to use any formula, you read the directions carefully and test it first. Should you have any health care-related questions or concerns, please call or see your physician or other health care provider.

163