If Laura Erickson has taught us anything over the last almost-thirty years, it's that animals think - and act - like animals, not humans. So when we see the baby fawn all alone or the little bird out of it's nest, our human oh-my-gosh-it's-an-infant-alone-in-the-woods instinct kicks in and we rush to help.
That concern is a laudable one ... but at this time of year, Wildwoods Rehabilitation in Duluth spends almost as much time educating the public and correcting well-intentioned mistakes as it does caring for animals who actually need the help.
Sarah Glesner of Wildwoods Rehabilitation is our guest this morning to talk about how to *really* help - and when to let animals free-range parent.....
A note about the photos:
Sarah writes, "The young people that picked up the twin fawns intentionally disregarded the instructions we gave them. We found out that it was actually their dog that frightened away the mother and licked both babies. So these two gentlemen decided to bring them in to the humane society. We explained to them that mother wasn't far and would return but they didn't accept that. Thankfully, the good people of the humane society made sure the babies were returned and they had moved from the area with their mother by the next morning.
"The purple blanket photo was our first legitimately orphaned fawn for this season. The mother wandered into a yard in Woodland and passed away during the birth process. The homeowners felt terrible and had the doe removed from the yard, only to discover that she has succeeded in having twp babies. This happened on Memorial Day when it was pouring rain. One of the babies had already passed away. But the one that survived ran up to them calling and begging for food and they called Wildwoods! This fawn survived; he is in great shape, and he was just transferred to Wild and Free yesterday!"
You can get more information about what to do if you're concerned for an animal in the wild by contacting Wildwoods at 218-491-3604 or checking out their website.
