Sandy was out for her evening walk and found several children gathered around a nest containing 3 baby cottontail rabbits. The children were petting the bunnies "I thought that the mother must be dead, since she was nowhere in sight, and in any case, I have heard that once wild babies have been handled by humans, the mother will no longer care for them," recalls Sandy. " I thought the best thing to do was to take them home and see if I could care for them until they were big enough to make it on their own. After a day, they were lethargic, and one had died. I called the conservation department and they told me that it was illegal for me to keep the bunnies without a permit. They instructed me to call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. It was only after I spoke with the rehabber, that I found out I had done everything wrong! She told me that the bunnies were probably not even orphaned in the first place. They were so cute. I just wanted to help them and I ended up reducing their chances of survival."Like Sandy, many people have good intentions, but do the wrong thing because they lack good information about the wild animals that share our neighborhoods. In this article, I will try to give you some basic tips on how to determine if an animal needs rescue, how to rescue it safely, and how to care for it until you can contact a wildlife rehabilitation specialist.It is tempting to try to raise cute wild orphans yourself. However, his is usually not in the best interests of the animal. Providing the correct diet and housing is expensive and time consuming. Remember that babies must be taught to recognize and catch natural foods and must have large spaces in which to become accustomed to weather and to exercise their muscles so they will be fit to support themselves when released. In addition, if they are not properly socialized, they will likely meet a quick demise upon release. Abnormal behavior causes others of the species to react to the orphan with aggression. Normally, only wild animals suffering from rabies or other nervous system diseases willingly approach people. A human raised wild baby can easily become imprinted on humans and seek them out when put back into the wild. If this happens, they are likely to be assumed disease carriers, and destroyed. Licensed wildlife rehabilitators have the knowledge and facilities to care for the animal for the months it often takes to prepare it for a successful return to the wild.        __________________________________________________________mcdst certification.
mcitp training.
mcp training.