RI Department Of Environmental Management Warns: Leave 'Baby Wildlife' Alone

Touching or moving a young animal can put it at risk, the department cautioned.

By Joseph Hosey, Patch Staff

May 27, 2026 2:55 pm EDT

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental management warned residents to leave "baby wildlife" alone.

The department "asks the public to give baby wildlife some space, especially fawns — the tiny spotted deer that are often mistakenly thought to be 'abandoned' when they’re right where Mom left them," DEM said in a media release.

"As tempting as it may be to 'rescue' a lone fawn, touching or moving it is putting its survival at risk," the release said.

Dylan Ferreira, a wildlife biologist in DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife, noted in the release it is normal for a fawn to hide in grass or brush for the first week after birth until it is able to follow its mother.

“Sometimes well-intentioned people wrongly assume that a fawn is abandoned and take it home and try to rescue it, but the mother is usually nearby and returns to feed it," Ferreira said. "If you see a fawn alone, please leave it alone — it does not need help and should not be handled.”

“DEM stresses that wildlife is beautiful but should always be enjoyed from afar,” Rhode Island State Veterinarian Dr. Scott Marshall said in the release.

“Never approach wild animals and certainly never touch them. Handling mammals is always a potential rabies exposure," Marshall said. "Once people handle or have contact with these animals, public health officials are compelled to test the animal for rabies, which requires that the animal be humanely dispatched because testing requires brain tissue.”