by Dr. Howard A. Mintzer

Q. Jessica F. from Fishkill writes

This morning I found a baby bird that had fallen out of it's nest. The bird is mostly naked though it does have a few tiny feathers on it. I've been feeding it worms and it seems to be eating them and doing OK so far. What else can I do now?

A. This time of year we are continually getting phone calls from clients concerning wild baby animals they've found. They are so cute and helpless that we all want to help them. I applaud your attempt at taking care of this little bird. It will be quite a rewarding feeling if and when you are finally able to let your little fledgling take wing. However there are some problems with what you are doing.

First of all, it is against the law. Orphaned and injured wildlife can only legally be rehabilitated by licensed New York State wildlife rehabilitators. If the bird migrates over state lines then you will also need to get a license from the federal government. In reality, I don't think anyone is going to be knocking on your door for helping a poor little robin. That is not true for helping other orphaned animals. Think of the liability and government interest you might incur if you were to try to help an abandoned baby raccoon that turned out to have rabies. Not only would you have to notify the health department and go through a series of rabies shots, but what about your children? Did they and their friends pet the cute little raccoon baby? How do you think their parents would feel when they found out that their children had to get rabies shots? This isn't a joke. I have had well meaning people come into the office each year with baby raccoons that they've found, handled and only then asked for advice. This is a death sentence for the raccoon. Once you touch it, it has to be tested to make sure you were not exposed to rabies. There is no way to test for rabies without sacrificing the animal. If the animal has rabies then everyone who had any contact with the animal and might have been exposed to its saliva will need to get rabies shots.

So what should you do when you find what appears to be orphaned wildlife? First, make sure the animal is really abandoned. When a feather less baby bird is found on the ground (or in your cat's mouth) there is no doubt that the bird is not where it should be. On the other hand if you find bunny rabbits in the middle of your lawn (especially if you haven't mowed it for a while) they are probably right where they're supposed to be. It is common for rabbits to make a nest in tall grass. A mother rabbit returns only twice a day to feed her young, so if you've seen the bunnies alone for hours it's wrong to assume that they have been abandoned. Fawns will lie motionless in the grass awaiting their mother's return. A few years ago a family found what it thought was an abandoned puppy while they were hiking in the woods here in Dutchess county. It was only three months later that they realized that the pup that they had "saved" was a wild coyote and wasn't a very suitable pet.

Next, unless you know for sure that the mother is dead, try as hard as possible to return the baby to where you found it. It is a fallacy that if a baby is touched by a human the mother will reject it. You have a window of between 24 and 48 hours during which the mother will continue to look for her offspring. After that it is too late to return the baby; the sooner you return it, the better for the animal. It is not easy to successfully raise and return orphaned wildlife back to nature. They often die after weeks of patient nurturing. If they do not die they can become so used to humans that once released they have no fear of people and become a nuisance. How can you return the babies to where you found them? Perhaps you've found a baby bird on the ground. Get a plastic bowl (something akin to a used cottage cheese container) put some bedding material in it (grass, cotton or leaves) and then place it or nail it as high into a tree as near where you found the bird as possible. Mom will find her chirping offspring. Leave the bunnies alone. If you've exposed them to direct sun by mowing their little den, use a piece of cardboard and a stick to give them some shade. Put some grass around them for camouflage; lock you cat indoors for a week or so. Let the fawn stay in the grass, mom is around somewhere.

If you are sure you have an orphan on your hands- say perhaps because you've seen the mother killed, you will need to call the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation in New Paltz (256-3000) and get the phone number of a wildlife rehabilitator. Rehabilitators are animal loving people who have been trained to properly raise orphaned wildlife. Only a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, or someone working under their supervision can legally raise wildlife for release in New York State. The rehabilitator will look over the animal and determine what help it needs to be successfully rehabilitated and released into the wild. This is what you need to do now for your little baby bird. Although you've made a good start in caring for your baby to successfully rehabilitate your bird will require professional help and knowledge of factors that you are unaware of. For instance how do you return a now fully feathered out and flying bird to the wild so it doesn't keep coming back to you for meals . Remember that release is your goal. Wild animals are not pets; the best thing you can do for them is to turn them back into the wild.

Next week I will discuss emergency treatment- what you can do until you are able to speak with a wildlife rehabilitator, precautions you must take to make sure you and your family aren't exposed to diseases and other factors involved in helping orphaned and injured wildlife.