It's That Time of Year Again

Now that Spring is here (hopefully Mother Nature will cooperate soon) things get busy at the shelter with questions and concerns about wildlife.

Generally when wildlife is injured, sick or thought to be orphaned, HAWS will transfer the animal to a wildlife rehabilitation center until they can be released back into the wild. However, the community can provide a grave injustice in not realizing that the animals are really not orphaned. This takes babies away from their mothers and their chance at survival is decreased in captivity.

Many times we see this with rabbits. It is very normal for the parents to leave the babies. Mothers only come in the morning and evening to feed their young. Moms do not want to become easy target for predators by sticking around too long.

If you think that the babies have been abandoned we suggest that you lightly cover the nest with grass and check on them the next day. If you see that the grass has been "disturbed" then you know that mom has been around.

A great resource in our area is the Wildlife In Need Center in Dousman. We are VERY lucky to have such a wonderful organization so close. If you think an animal needs assistance you should first find out if it really needs help and what kind of help it needs. The easiest way to do this is to call Wildlife In Need or check out their Q & A section of their website.

Moral of the story is, either call HAWS or Wildlife In Need before moving any babies, it could save their lives.