It is normal for young furred animals and feathered birds to be alone and appear to be unattended in the wild. They are NOT! The parents are watching closely from a distance. Birds may feed their young intermittently (every 30 min or so) on the ground for several days until the young bird can fly. Animals may feed their young only at night to avoid luring predators.
Many seemingly harmless yard chemicals and pest control products are quite toxic to animals and birds, especially their young. Reduce or eliminate chemical use in your yard or use environmentally friendly products. Many options are available.
Remove harmful items from your yard. Put lids on rainbarrels to avoid drownings. Clean up spilled chemicals. Car oil spilled on to the ground can coat and kill wildlife. Oil flushed down a storm drain can end up in a pond or waterway ultimately killing waterfowl and wildlife.
Cats accoiunt for a large number of the inuries to wildlife we receive. Cahances of survival after a cat attack are quite low due to infection, shock and bleeding from deep claw and teeth wounds. on einjured birds may also result in a whole nest of baby birds dying as well. Cats can also contract illness and parasites from wild animals such as rabies, worms and fleas.
Almost all nesting birds feed on insects. One nest of birds will consume thousands of insects from your yard in a season. Hose sparrows devour canker worms, starlings eat moths that destroy lawns, swallows eat flies and mosquitoes, and wrens will forage amongst garden plants to find all types of insects that affect crops.
It is much easier to educate childen in advance and tell them not to pick up wildlife they see, rather than trying to figure out what to do with the baby raccoon or bird they have just carried home from school.