LEAVE YOUNG WILDLIFE IN WILD Lone young wildlife usually have an
unseen mother watching nearby PRATT -- Every spring and early
summer, hundreds of “orphaned” wild animals are picked up when
they would do perfectly well left alone. In most cases, the
intended “rescue” results in a death sentence. If the animal
does end up in the hands of a professional wildlife
rehabilitator, its chances are better but still not good. And
over-worked rehabilitators have enough to do with animals that
are genuinely injured. Bird and animal mothers will often leave
their young in search of food during the day. Humans entering
the area are often convinced that the young have been abandoned
and pick them up in order to "save" them. Unfortunately, such
action almost always leads to the animals' death, sometimes
slowly and painfully. In addition to the damage done to wild
species, the health risk to humans picking up wild animals is
high. Rabies is common to many species of wild animals. Raccoons
often carry a parasite which attacks