Found an Animal FAQ

Is the baby warm and healthy? He may not be truly orphaned. Wildlife parents may leave their young for long periods of time while they forage for food, but they are probably watching you from afar.

Do not assume a young animal you find has been abandoned. Many animals leave their young for long periods of time while they forage.

****However, any baby bird on the ground that does not yet have feathers (is fluff-covered or naked) needs immediate warmth and care. Always rescue a nestling baby bird, or a naked or eyes-closed baby mammal of any species.****

If the baby is not a nestling or an eyes-closed mammal and is not exhibiting any of the Five Cs, step away and observe from a distance, or leave and return later; the parents will not come to their baby if predators (YOU!) are near. Keep all pets and humans away! It is crucial that the returning parent is not threatened by your good intentions into abandoning her young.

If you do pick up the animal and the baby is warm and healthy, you may be able to return him to his nest or leave him hidden where you found him. Remember it is a MYTH that wild animals will reject their young if humans touch them!

Spring, summer and even early fall are baby season for wild things. These are also the times of year when people are outdoors enjoying the lovely weather. Whether on a trail, in the garden or under your deck, it’s inevitable that people and wildlife are going to meet during the warmer months of the year.

Jackrabbits and deer will leave their babies for up to 12 hours. A fawn or leveret (baby hare) is likely not orphaned if found still and quiet in the grass. Photo by Susan Sasso

Deer and hares (Jackrabbits) have one or two young and hide twins in separate locations for up to twelve hours at a time, returning to nurse in the early morning and early evening.

Brush Rabbits have larger litters in a single nest, but those babies, too, will be left alone for long periods of time. If you are uncertain whether the mother Brush Rabbit is around, you can lay small twigs in a pattern across the entrance to the rabbit’s nest, and check the next day to see if they have been disturbed.

A warm quiet baby found in the grass with no obvious injuries is probably not abandoned. Fawns and young rabbits remain quiet and still so that predators will not find them. If all is well, the mother will likely move her baby after the next feeding, which may not be for several hours.

Call WildCare 415-456-7283 or your local rehabilitation hospital if the baby you saw is still there after 24 hours, if a fawn is bleating (crying) and walking around in the open, or you are certain the mother has been killed.

Young Virginia Opossums explore their mother’s pouch. These babies are almost weaned. Photo by Alison Hermance

Neonate (newborn) opossums are sometimes found alive inside the pouch of a dead mother. If you see a dead mother opossum and it is safe to do so, always check the pouch and surrounding grass for straggling babies. If you find live babies in the pouch, you can bring the mother’s body to WildCare or your local wildlife center immediately. Don’t attempt to detach live babies from a dead mother, as the babies’ mouths are closed around the nipple and removal must be done very carefully.

Opossums cannot be reunited with their mothers, and an opossum shorter than ten inches (including tail), will need warmth and care.

Juvenile opossums are fully furred and have outgrown their mother’s pouch. By instinct, they cling to her as she forages, and eventually fall off. If unable to get back to her, a baby is then on his own, a natural dispersal strategy. If healthy and ten inches or longer he is old enough to take care of himself and doesn’t need rescue.

Raccoons are great mothers. Photo from WildCare archives

Neonate raccoons are helpless for about six weeks, and their mother usually keeps them well hidden. You are unlikely to encounter baby raccoons unless their nest is disturbed or their mother is interrupted while moving them. Raccoons are very attached to their young. If a mother is alive and she has been separated from all her young, she will try aggressively to retrieve them for several nights. If allowed to reach them, she will move them to an alternate nest. Call WildCare for assistance with reuniting a family or if you have found a single neonate (newborn) raccoon. Never handle a raccoon OF ANY AGE with your bare hands.

Juvenile raccoons leave the nest at about eight to ten weeks of age and begin to travel with their mother. From then on they have no permanent den site. If excluding raccoons from your walls, attics or crawlspaces is a goal, this is when it is safe to do so.

If you need help excluding wildlife from your property, call WildCare Solutions at 415-453-1000 x23! We offer effective, humane, non-lethal help to resolve wildlife conflicts.

Downy baby raptors found on the ground should come to WildCare, but watch out for sharp beaks and talons! Photo by Melanie Piazza

Hawks, owls raptors and vultures of all ages have sharp talons and beaks.

Adult raptors and vultures can be very aggressive when protecting their young. Nestlings with downy fluff on their bodies found on the ground should be brought to a wildlife hospital immediately. Babies at this age are not able to thermoregulate (control their body temperature) on their own, so they need immediate warmth.

"Branchers" are fledgling raptors. If the bird is old enough to have feathers and very little downy fluff, and he’s healthy and on the ground, chances are he is just learning to fly and should be left alone. Call WildCare if the bird appears injured, or you are uncertain. WildCare’s Hungry Owl Project has experienced tree climbers who are able to put young raptors of all ages back into their nests. Many local wildlife centers will have similar programs.

Every year hundreds of baby birds fall or are blown from their nests, or are found following an ill-timed tree trimming. A pink, featherless nestling definitely needs to be rescued, as does any baby that is injured or ill. But a feathered fledgling on the ground who appears bright-eyed, hopping, and healthy may actually not be in trouble. WildCare's Hotline team works hard to prevent "over-rescue" (inadvertent "kidnapping") of young birds at this time of year.

For many bird species, leaving the nest before being flighted is a natural part of adolescence.

Young birds with developing feathers frequently take up residence on the ground in the grass or bushes near their old nest where they continue to be fed and taught by their parents. Some things to keep in mind about birds:

• Parent birds will continue to feed their babies after you have touched them. Most birds have a poor sense of smell and parent birds won’t know (or care!) that you have touched their baby. Baby birds can be returned to the nest! Parent birds will even be foster parents for an abandoned baby of the same species and age of their own young.
• Parent birds will search for their babies even after 24 to 48 hours of absence. Most birds have their own territories. Even if the nest and babies are gone, the parents remain in their home territory, waiting to welcome their babies home.
• Birds only need to be rescued if they are:
  • naked (no feathers) or downy (fluffy white feathers)
  •  
  • injured
  • caught by a cat or dog
  • icy cold
  • orphaned
• Symptoms of an Injury or Illness:
  • Falling over on one side
  • Unable to flutter wings
  • Weak or shivering
  • Attacked by cat or dog
  • Wing tweaked upward
  • Wing drooping
  • Feathers fluffed
  • Bleeding

Has the Bird Been Abandoned?

Watch for the parent! Observe the baby bird continuously for 60 to 90 minutes from a distance of 50 feet. Watch carefully; the parents will fly in and out quickly.

If you have the bird in a box, check the feces…

• Clear with white poop (or green bile) indicates a baby bird is not being fed, and is likely abandoned.
• Color in the poop indicates that the parents are feeding the baby, and the bird should be put back where it was found.

Nestlings:

Songbirds may be returned to the nest if found on the ground, unless they’re cold or injured. Photo by Alison Hermance

Nestlings are pink, helpless, featherless or pin-feathered birds that cannot keep themselves warm. Any nestling bird found on the ground is at great risk of hypothermia. Always pick up a nestling and keep him warm, while calling WildCare at 415-456-7283. Despite what we may have learned as children, parent birds will NOT reject their babies just because they have been handled by humans. WildCare reunites dozens of baby birds with their parents every year. As long as the baby birds are warm and healthy, the parents will accept them back into the nest. In fact, they will even accept and care for orphaned baby birds of the same age and species as their own nestlings. However, because nestlings cannot yet regulate their body temperature, they are extremely prone to hypothermia. Just assume that a nestling baby bird on the ground needs immediate help and warmth.

An entire nest of birds that falls down can sometimes be renested. Call WildCare’s Hotline at 415-456-7283 for advice before attempting to renest. You may be instructed to place the baby birds and what remains of the nest in a strawberry basket or tub with drainage holes punched in the bottom, and hang the basket or tub to a tree in the exact location of the original nest site. Be sure that a branch shields the nestlings from sunburn and the eyes of predators like crows. Many situations are not appropriate for renesting, however, and if the babies were injured in their fall they will need care. Always call WildCare first 415-456-7283.

Never attempt to renest a single baby bird in a separate nest. Parent birds will only sit on and feed the babies in one nest. Generally nestlings should come to WildCare for care. Call us at 415-456-7283.

Fledglings:

These birds have feathers and short tails and can perch, hop or walk. They are learning to fly, a process that may take two weeks. Fledglings should be left alone to practice hopping and fluttering from low shrub branches to the ground. The parents are close by, and continue to feed the babies until they learn to fly and eat on their own. Parents will guide the fledglings into the bushes at night to hide from predators.

To return a fledgling to its territory after it has been brought indoors:

• Keep pets and children indoors so the parents will return to their baby.
• If a bird can perch on your finger, place it in a bush near the area you found it.
• If you found the bird in a high-traffic area, move it to a safe area under the cover of bushes.
• Parents communicate with their young by a series of voice calls. As long as a fledgling is placed in its home territory, the parents will be able to locate it and move it to a safe location.
• At a distance, (indoors is best) watch continuously for one hour for the parents to return. If the parents don’t return, call WildCare immediately.

Always call WildCare 415-456-SAVE (7283) before handling a baby bird!

While parent birds will accept a baby back if it has been touched by humans, the stress on the bird can be detrimental. If a baby is naked (without feathers or with few feathers) the requirement for immediate action is much higher.

Squirrels are good moms too, and will often recover their babies and carry them to a new nest if given the opportunity. Photo by Alison Hermance

Neonate (newborn) squirrels are usually found when a nest (called a “drey”) has been destroyed. Squirrels are excellent parents, but they are casual nest-builders, so they often have more than one drey. If one or more baby squirrels fall to the ground, their mother will often retrieve them.

If you find uninjured babies and think the mother is still in the vicinity, nestle them in a warm, shallow box at the base of the tree they fell from, or in a basket suspended so it rests against the trunk, and leave the area. Call WildCare 415-456-7283 if the mother has not returned within two or three hours.

Juvenile squirrels are still dependent on their mother. Call WildCare for advice if a juvenile squirrel approaches you, as it may be a sign that he needs medical care. Squirrels have very sharp teeth and strong jaws– never handle a squirrel without gloves.

Any fluffy duckling or gosling on his own needs to be rescued.

WildCare's first duckling of 2016 got separated from his family as they trekked toward water. Photo by Alison Hermance

Mallards and other duck and goose species have large broods of young, and the babies come out of the egg precocial, meaning they can walk, swim and eat adult food almost immediately. As soon as her clutch has fully hatched, a mother duck or goose will escort her young to a water source. If the lake, pond or stream is a distance away, or especially if it is across a busy road, it is easy for mother and babies to become separated.

Many of the orphaned ducklings and goslings admitted to WildCare lose their families in this manner. Babies also get separated when they are washed away in gutters during rain storms, or when they get trapped in storm drains.

If you see a duckling alone, look for mom. She may be just around the bend, waiting for her little ones to catch up. If mom isn’t obviously nearby and you’re able to capture the duckling and transport him close to a mother with young, he’ll easily return to the bosom of the family… even if it isn’t his original family! If no mother duck is within sight, bring the baby to your closest wildlife rescue center. WildCare admits over 200 Mallard Ducklings every year to our Wildlife Hospital.

If you find an injured or orphaned hummingbird on the ground, lift it along with the material it is sitting on, and place it on crumpled tissue in a shoebox with holes in the lid. Always use tissue or paper towels, NOT cloth—the bird’s feet may become entangled in the cloth.

Call WildCare immediately (415-456-SAVE (7283). Hummingbirds will die within four hours if not fed. Hummingbird babies that are fed sugarwater or commercial hummingbird nectar for more than 24 hours may develop crippling deformities.

Never attempt to remove baby hummingbirds from their nest. Young hummingbirds secure themselves to the nest by weaving their tiny toes around the nest fabric. So firm is their hold, that if lifted from the nest, most often the legs are left behind.

It can be very difficult to tell if a baby jackrabbit is orphaned.

Always call WildCare 415-456-SAVE (7283) before approaching a jackrabbit to determine if it needs rescuing! Some facts to keep in mind about jackrabbit behavior:

• Jackrabbits are "precocial," meaning they are born fully furred with their eyes open, and will start nibbling greens within a week.
• A baby jackrabbit is called a leveret. A leveret’s main defense when threatened is to freeze, which is often mistaken by people as being calm. The animal is not calm, it is terrified.
• The mother jackrabbit separates her litter for a better chance of some babies surviving.
• There is no nest! Jackrabbit young will stay hidden in the grass, shrubs, or other ground-level growth where the mother leaves them.
• The mother only comes to feed the young two or three times a day. Otherwise, the young jackrabbits are left alone. Even if you are watching carefully, you may not see the mother jackrabbit return to her young. Do not assume the babies are orphaned simply because you do not see the mother!
• Leverets will wander a bit. When the mother returns to the area, she calls to her young and they come to nurse.
• Never try to feed a leveret, they have very delicate digestive systems.
• Jackrabbits are extremely high-stress animals; they can die from fear.
• Jackrabbits have very strong hind limbs and if restrained may kick out hard enough to break their own backs.