What To Do If You Find a Baby Mammal
The following is a quick guide to help you make the right decision should you find a baby mammal that you think might be in need of rescuing.
Many of the mammals that are brought to Rescuers each year become orphaned by people who have live-trapped and relocated the mother before realizing that she had young. Seal up all possible access sites into your home before a wild animal moves in. If one has already taken up residence, please wait until the young begin emerging from the den, and then seal the whole family out at one time. This might be your attic or basement.
If you must remove an animal from your home or yard, please consult with an animal rescue first, such as California Wildlife Center in Calabasas (310) 458-9453 or Wildlife Care of Southern California (805) 581-3911.
Professional critter removal services must have state permits to engage in this type of work. Ask to see this permit before hiring them; it might save the animals life!
They charge a lot of money to remove what they refer to as "nuisance" animals. They should not be removing a mother when they cannot get to her babies. And they know once they have her if she is nursing, but they won't tell you. And a couple days later you have crying babies somewhere on your property starving to death. And they will charge to also remove the babies.
Raccoons and Squirrels
Raccoons and squirrels frequently move their young around and sometimes drop them when spooked. In addition, adolescent raccoons and squirrels are prone to wandering and sometimes get lost. Usually the mother will backtrack and retrieve her young when she thinks it is safe. It is best, unless the young are injured, to not interfere. Leave the young outside overnight, as this is when the mother is most likely to return. Often she will approach and leave several times before retrieving the young. This is her way of testing to make sure that the coast is clear. If you are concerned about predators, place the animal in an open box suspended from a nearby branch or other high area.
Raccoon Mom's are really good Mom's and do not abandon their young. If you see a raccoon during the day it is most likely a Mom looking for food to feed her young. People become frightened when they see a raccoon, especially during the day. Let her be, and she will let you be.
Brush (cottontail) Rabbits
Brush Rabbits only feed their young at dusk and dawn and the babies are left for long stretches of time. If you find a nest and are concerned that the young are orphaned, try placing two pieces of yarn over the nest in the form of an "X." If the "X" has been disturbed in the morning, then the mother has returned.
Fawns
Fawns have no scent and lie motionless while their mothers forage nearby. The doe will not approach while you are nearby for fear of exposing her young to a possible predator. Fawns are very difficult to return to the wild once they have been in captivity. Unless there is an obvious injury, these animals should be left alone.
Injured Animals
If you find an injured wild animal, please take the following steps:
▪ Place the animal in a small cardboard box lined with a towel. If you have a heating pad, set it on low and place it under the box. Place the box in a warm, quiet area.
▪ Do not attempt to feed the animal. You may offer it water either through a dropper or by placing a small jar-lid full in its box. No wild animal can tolerate cow's milk. In many cases, giving cow's milk can cause fatal digestive problems.
▪ Bring the animal to a rescuer as soon as possible.
If for some reason you cannot get to a rescue, and the baby seems to be starving -
Ask the Rescue, or research online more than one site to find out what is best to feed your specific animal.
Below is our own little raccoon rescue story....
A past spring, three little critters spent a couple days with us before I was able to get them to a rehab facility in Simi Valley - Wildlife Care of Southern California. (805) 581-3911 I wanted to make sure they would not become dependent on a human and went somewhere where they would be re-released back into the wild. They unfortunately had many more baby raccoons at their facility. They said almost all were there because people had removed the mothers without knowing she had babies.
Two of these three practically landed on our doorstep. Two of them jumped about 15 feet from a limb on the tree in front of our house. They were starving and looking for mom. The rehaber told me, they will only do this when without food for a few days. When the first one jumped we thought it was an accident and we could put it back into the nest. Well when we got back home with a ladder that was too short to reach them, another one jumped. We quickly realized something was very wrong and there was a good possibility, Mom would not be returning. We waited for evening and no Mama. I called a rehaber to find out what to feed them. I did not hear back until evening, so I looked up lots of info online about baby raccoons. I got the right formula, but the nipple was not right, and a heating pad. When I spoke to the rehaber she told me what size and I got it. That helped a lot. I did not bring them right away, because I could hear more crying, and wanted to try and rescue them all. Sadly another one fell in the night and didn't make it, but I could hear faint sounds still coming from the tree in the morning, and decided on Sunday morning to try and find a tree trimmer that would be willing to try to rescue whatever else was still up there. It took a while, but thankfully I found one, and they arrived about 4 hours later, I was worried it was too late. He climbed the tree and as the tree shook a little from his weight I heard a whimper. He got a shirt from his friend, and he pulled it out by its tail. It was so cold and weak I honestly did not think it would make it, but for two hours I warmed towels and kept wrapping it and holding it, and it finally started to get warm, I knew it needed fluids and was too weak to take them, so I had to use a plastic syringe to get the fluids in. It would not have made it to the rehab facility. Most rehabilitators just do it out of their homes, of their own expense. If you can't get a hold of them right away, or they sound annoyed or exhausted they probably are. Their work is endless. I only had those little guys for 2 days and it felt like 2 weeks. I set my alarm to feed them in the night. They were full of fleas, which Ladybug ended up getting and took forever to get rid of. But, as you can see they were ADORABLE! And I am very happy to also say that all three made it! But it made me so sad to think about what had happened to their mom.
Why were these babies left alone? Raccoons are amazing Moms, so we can rest assured it was not her fault. Most likely it was a neighbor that had seen the mom, possibly during the day, because moms can forage during the day for food for their babies. And they had called to have it removed, which 99% of the time means death, and also for the babies - who would if not found now starve to death, or die trying not to. People have unwarranted fears of wildlife. That Mom does not want to hurt or bother anyone, she wants to feed and take care of her babies. So, please think twice before just calling to have an animal removed. This Mom was outside our front door raising babies for 2-3 weeks, and we had no idea. She wasn't bothering us, nor us her.
Reminders...
Here are a few things we can do in our own backyards:
Healthy Birds = Happy Birds!
Please keep your feeders clean
and
your yard free of excessive seed debris.
Hummingbird feeders should be cleaned at least weekly during warm weather, and biweekly during cooler months.
Seed Feeders should be cleaned at least once a month,
simply hose and leave to thoroughly dry in the sun, before refilling. Every 2 months scrub and soak and leave to dry.
Keeping seed debris to a minimum under your feeders is healthier for the birds and also helps to keep rodents away.
It is always advisable to wear gloves and or wash hands
when cleaning and even filling feeders,
for your health and the birds.
*
Never use Rodenticide
Most people don't have a rat problem. We use to tell people in the store that were controlling rats with an exterminator service (most likely using poison) that it is better to not feed birds than to control rodents with poison and we stand by that today (we have heard that placing pure essential oil of peppermint around can help deter rodents).
There are also traps that kill them humanly.
Seal up or screen all small hole access to your home
Poisoned rats don't always die;
but can live to infect other wildlife.
They are having a devastating effect on our Raptors
(especially Barn Owls) and all local wildlife!
This is what a poison bait box looks like. Most exterminator services use them. They are not traps. The rats walk in and eat the poison and walk out to be consumed by a hungry animal.
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Put out fresh water for birds and other wildlife
Especially in the warmer months - we are all watering less
that means less pooling water for birds, animals, insects
*
Bee a Pollinator Protector
Avoid using pesticides, herbicides, fungicides of any kind,
there is usually always a natural alternative that a quick online
search will find:
https://xerces.org/blog/earth-week/pesticide-free-gardening
Visit the Xerces Society website and see what they are doing to
protect you and our invertebrates
Remember birds and other insects are the
best ways to keep pests under control.
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Add Native Plants to your Garden
Just a few can help a lot.
Native plants will bring biodiversity
that will truly help in the regulation of unwanted pests.
A great place to start is with Native Narrow leaf Milkweed for Monarchs. Please don't plant the tropical variety, it flowers year around forcing the Monarch to lay its eggs during the winter months, and also leaving the caterpillars vulnerable to parasites that live on the milkweed. These parasites die with the milkweed when the native variety goes dormant in the fall.
The Theodore Payne Society carries a wide variety of
native plants - they can also ship seeds.
Here is a link to a local chapter of California Native Plant Society
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Trim your trees from September to January
to avoid harming baby birds
or baby mammals,
hummingbirds can nest year round,
and Raptors can start nesting as early as November,
so always look for nests or nesting activity before you start to cut.
Please refer to this Audubon link for more information.
*Cohabitate*
We're all in this together!