Out There 6/3

By Christopher Miller

Okay, I get it.

The baby deer is so cute, the bear cub is adorable, I could just hug and squeeze that little trout. (Well, maybe not the trout).

The PA Game Commission on May 24 issued a news release with the title “Springtime Alert – Do Not Disturb Young Wildlife.” I was hoping this was a joke, or that it would have just been that self-explanatory to not disturb nature’s babies. But I assume not.

When a yearling bear cub ran through our yard last month I ran through the house with my phone camera recording the brief encounter with nature. It is semi-rare to see a bear from my perch in Woodward Township near the Pike, but not too out of the ordinary. What I did not do was chase after it outside asking if I may hug it like Will Ferrell in the movie Elf.

While some young animals might appear to be abandoned, usually they are not. It’s likely their mothers are watching over them from somewhere nearby.

Plain and simple in the news release – mother may be watching their young nearby, they aren’t as “helicopter parent-y” as 21st century human parents tend to be.

Adult animals often leave their young while they forage for food, but they don’t go far and they do return. Wildlife also often relies on a natural defensive tactic called the “hider strategy,” where young animals will remain motionless and “hide” in surrounding cover while adults draw the attention of potential predators or other intruders away from their young.

We humans cannot read animals’ minds, but we can guess as to what is happening by examining their surroundings and body movements. Just because Bambii may be hidden in the high grass nearby does not mean she has been abandoned by her mother.

Such (human) contact can be harmful to both people and wildlife. Wild animals can lose their natural fear of humans, making it difficult, even impossible, for them to ever again live normally in the wild. And anytime wildlife is handled, there’s always a risk people could contract diseases or parasites such as fleas, ticks and lice. Wildlife that becomes habituated to humans also can pose a public-safety risk. Some years ago, a yearling, six-point buck attacked and severely injured two people. The investigation into the incident revealed that a neighboring family had illegally taken the deer into their home and fed it as a fawn, and they continued to feed the deer right up until the time of the attack. It is illegal to take or possess wildlife from the wild. Under state law, the penalty for such a violation is a fine of up to $1,500 per animal.

Please, just don’t do it. You are not playing the hero, nor are you on a humanitarian mission to save a baby deer that wandered into your yard magically one day. Let nature be nature, no matter how cute and cuddly the animal appears to be.

You may think that you are viewing wildlife, but actually, wildlife is viewing you.