Infant Wildlife

Young wild animals are not constantly tended to by their parents, unlike human babies. They are often left alone or with their siblings for long periods of time, but remain under the watchful eye of their parents. In most cases wild animal babies should be left alone. We often hear about instances with baby birds and baby mammals such as cottontails, raccoons, fawns, squirrels, opossums and skunks being inadvertently taken from their wild parents by people who think they are helping to rescue "orphaned" wildlife. There are ways to assess whether or not the baby is really an orphan, as well as steps that you can take when dealing with infant wildlife that will not only help the infant, but will also protect the entire local habitat.

Follow the links below for recommendations on certain common situations involving infant wildlife.

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