It's spring, Baby Season for creatures of the wild again, and there is a chance you might find a baby wild bird or mammal. This is intended as a guide to the rescue of wild bird and mammal babies. Remember that it is illegal in most cases for someone who isn't already a licensed wildlife rehabilitator to try to raise these babies themselves, and that wild animals really belong in the wild and do not make good pets.

The first priority if you have found a baby wild animal is to locate the nearest wildlife rehabilitator. A search through the Yellow Pages or a search engine on the Internet can be a good resource here. Wildlife rehabbers are skilled in caring for wild babies (and injured adults) and returning them to the wild. They have veterinarians on-call, proper facilities for the babies to develop normally, and they don't mind the lack of sleep. (Baby mammals, depending on size and age, will need to be fed every 2-4 hours around the clock. Baby birds usually need every-half-hour feedings from sunup until 10:00 pm, sometimes later, except for some species that need to be fed every fifteen minutes during waking hours.) Everyone should have a list of their local wildlife rescue places and vets who take in animals for them; it makes things easy when the need arises.

If you find a baby bird on the ground and can put it back in its nest, you should do so. The mom won't smell you on the babies and abandon them, she'll just be relieved that her chick is home. If an entire nest is destroyed, you can even make a nest in a basket and put the babies in that. (We did this when the wind blew a robin's nest out of a tree. The babies grew up fine, and my mother later sold the basket--an antique, and none the worse for wear!) A baby bird who is fully feathered out and hopping around, almost flying, is a fledgeling and should be left alone--just keep an eye out so cats don't get it, and it'll be flying very soon.

If you can't put a baby bird back in the nest, put it in a small dark box (darkness reduces stress), keep it warm, and bring it to a wildlife center or an intake vet as soon as possible. Unless you've hand-fed birds before and have been trained to do so by a vet or wildlife rehabber, don't try to feed it! Birds' airways are in an odd place (floor of the mouth, right behind the tongue) and it's easy to miss the throat and accidentally drown/choke them. Don't try to give a baby bird water, either: they get all their moisture from food, and they aren't coordinated enough to drink liquids without choking yet.

Any bird that has been in a cat's mouth is in danger from bacteria, and must be brought to the rehabber for treatment, even if the nest is in reach.

For baby mammals, the first thing to do is make sure it's actually an orphan or abandoned. Some animals, like deer and rabbits, leave their babies alone while they go off to eat. If the animal's in a den or a nest of grass and doesn't look gaunt, chances are it's not abandoned. If you <b>know</b> the animal is orphaned or in trouble (see a dead mother on the side of the road, your cat brings it in, whatever) carefully put the baby in a towel-lined, secure, warm dark box and bring it to the rehabber or intake vet. If the animal is a baby raccoon, don't handle it bare-handed! Raccoons can have a skin parasite that is deadly to humans; use gloves and towel it to pick it up. Again, don't feed the baby critter, as tempting as it may be; many animals need somewhat specialized formulas, and opossums need extra-special formula because they can't digest lactose. Regular human formula is too high in iron for baby wild mammals, and without a scale and growth charts and all that good stuff it's hard to know if the baby is getting enough to eat.

Finally, when you bring your wild baby to the rehabilitation center, consider volunteering your time to help save and return animals back to the wild! Most rehab centers rely on volunteers to keep baby birds and mammals fed, clean, and healthy. Volunteering is a great way to have daily hands-on experience with "your" baby and other unusual animals and to know you've made a difference in the world. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to say, "There are more birds in the sky because of me."