York Town News
Babies, babies everywhere means spring at the CFW
By Jennifer L. Saunders
From Canada goslings to great-horned owls, from American kestrels to young gray squirrels and more, the Center for Wildlife is the place where hundreds upon thousands of baby - and adult - animals receive the care they need to return to the wild or survive an injury. As the weeks of April progress, the center is immersed in one of its busiest times of year, as baby mammals injured by house pets or left orphaned are brought to the center for care.
Photos courtesy of the Center for Wildlife
And for local residents, it's a time when knowing what to do about a wild animal in need can mean the difference between a baby animal's life and death.
Laura Dehler of the CFW explained that the first wave of babies, starting late in March and peaking this month, is comprised of baby mammals.
The CFW's most recent newsletter described the majority of those baby mammals as "adorable - and hungry - gray squirrels."
According to the CFW, every time a mother squirrel is killed at this time of year - most often being hit by a car as she searches for food - a litter is left behind.
"The babies often are not rescued until hours or days later, when they get hungry enough to start crying and wander out of the nest. They then come to us dehydrated, very cold and sometimes flea-covered from neglect," according to the CFW.
Enter the CFW's volunteers and staff, who are then tasked to provide warmth, life-saving fluids and around-the-clock feeding.
However, not every baby, or nest of babies, local residents might discover is in need of rehabilitation.
According to the CFW, as long as babies are not flea-covered, obviously injured, or known to have been caught by a cat or dog, it is "worth giving mom a chance to raise her children" before bringing them to the CFW as she may be standing guard from a distance, awaiting a safe time to return. This can even be true if a nest is disturbed inadvertently by human contact. The CFW advises residents who may come into contact with a nest to return it, as much as possible, to its prior state, and watch from a distance to be sure the mother returns to her babies. In some cases, she will move the babies one by one, as occurred in one case reported to the CFW as a "success story" where the mother squirrel returned and relocated each of her babies.
Spring is also a time when the family feline poses a great danger to baby mammals and birds - sometimes without meaning to.
According to the CFW, "Many well-intentioned cats with forgotten hunter instincts aren't even out for the kill - they would just like to play with the little friends they find lying in nests. Unfortunately, their sharp teeth make it nearly impossible for even the gentlest of kitties to carry an animal without leaving tiny puncture wounds, and cat saliva is so rife with bacteria that infection - fatal without antibiotics - is almost certain to develop."
The CFW urges residents who receive "living presents" from their cats, even those that appear uninjured, to bring them to the center for evaluation.
And, the center staff advises, don't try to "do it yourself" when it comes to rehabilitating a wild animal. If you think you have found a baby animal in need of help, get it out of immediate danger and call the CFW at 361-1400 before taking further action.
"Tragically, every year we receive babies whose rescuers tried to raise them and only brought them to us when they realized things were not going well: by this point, the baby is often very ill. We see many cases of pneumonia from improper feeding technique, and diarrhea from the wrong diet or an improperly introduced diet," according to the CFW. "Other times, we get tame squirrels, raised by well-meaning members of the public who inadvertently turned them into pets. ... As they age, sweet and loving babies become wild and crazy, and if these young adult squirrels are not afraid of humans, they become destructive and often dangerous. Babies who come to us tamed by members of the public take a long time before they're ready for release, and often have to be kept at CFW for an entire year, or sometimes cannot be released at all."
The CFW is staffed by five year-round employees with the assistance of college interns during the summer months and more than 50 volunteers each year, who contribute more than 5,000 hours of time to all aspects of the center's operations.
This is a time of year when the CFW can use the community's support in the form of boxes of acorns, tax-deductible financial support, volunteer hours and supplies. For all the details, visit www.yorkcenterforwildlife.org or call 361-1400.
