The arrival of spring means the arrival of newborn and just-hatched wildlife. This writer always receives an inquiry from someone who has “found” some young animal and wants to know what they should do. The best idea is to not touch or move any young wildlife you find — in almost every circumstance. The MassWildlife website has posted some great advice, and I borrow from it to provide readers with that advice from wildlife professionals.
Every year, the lives of many young creatures are disturbed by people who take young wildlife from the wild in a well-intentioned attempt to “save” them. These well-meant acts of kindness tend to have the opposite effect. Please remember, finding a young animal alone does not mean it’s abandoned; the best thing you can do for young wildlife is to leave them alone.
Young wildlife removed from the wild are denied important natural learning experiences, which help them survive on their own. Most people quickly find that they can’t care for young wildlife, and many animals soon die in the hands of well-meaning people. Young wildlife that survive human “assistance” miss experiences that teach them to fend for themselves. If these animals are released back into the wild, their chances of survival are reduced. Often, the care given to young wildlife results in some attachment to humans, and the animals may return to places where people live, only to be attacked by domestic animals or hit by cars. Some animals become nuisances, and people have been injured by once-tamed wildlife.
Generally, young mammals are visited by their mother only a few times a day to avoid attracting predators to the young. For example, a nest of bunnies will only be visited by the adult female twice per day to nurse the young. The young are generally safe when left alone, because their color patterns and lack of scent help them remain undetected.
The same is true for whitetail deer fawns. Fawns are safest when left alone, because their camouflaging color helps them remain undetected until the doe returns. If sympathetic people repeatedly visit a fawn, it can prolong the separation from the doe and delay needed feeding. Unlike deer, newborn moose calves remain in close proximity to their mothers who, in contrast to a white-tailed doe, will actively defend calves against danger. An adult cow moose, weighing more than 600 pounds, will chase, kick or stomp potential predators, including humans.
Only when young wildlife are found injured or with their dead mother may the young be assisted, but they must then be delivered immediately to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Due to the difficulty in properly caring for them, there are no rehabilitators licensed to care for fawns, and it is illegal to possess most wildlife in Massachusetts without a permit.
Hopefully, this will advice will be of help and perhaps save a young animal from being harmed by a well-meaning person.
The dogs assisted me in putting the boat in the water last week, and we did a little fishing on that maiden voyage. It seems to me that things are slow locally, as the bass caught were all small males in shallow water. It has always been my practice to wait until mid June or later and fish top water and soft baits around structure and vegetation. For trout fishermen who frequent rivers and streams, the drop in the water flow recently was extreme. The Millers River, for example, dropped more than two feet in a week, drastically changing where the fish were located. Hopefully, this summer we will have regular rainfall to keeps river and stream flows up.
Mass turkey season — and the seasons in all northeastern states — have ended. Toms are still hanging around and broods are showing up as the hens get the young poults out foraging for insects, plants and seeds. You can participate in the Massachusetts turkey count and help biologists gather data on wild turkeys. Go to the MassWildlife website (www.mass.gov) and get started by downloading the survey form. Then, you can report your turkey family sightings to biologists this summer. From June 1 through Aug. 31, birders, hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts are invited to participate in the annual wild turkey brood (family) survey.
The survey data aids biologists in estimating poult (young turkey) production and survival for the year. Reports from citizens are useful in obtaining a large sample for this survey. Biologists need information on sightings of hen turkeys (no male turkey flocks) with or without their young. Please record the date, town, number of hens seen and number of poults and their relative size compared to the hens.
On the website, see the image taken by MassWildlife’s Bill Byrne, showing poults of differing sizes. In some cases, you might see turkey broods with poults of varying sizes indicating that some hens nested late or failed in their first attempt and re-nested. Repeat reports of the same flock are also welcome, as there may be some young missing later in the season from illness or predators.
Keep the Wild turkey Brood Survey form around the house from June through August, filling it in as you see turkey broods. After Aug. 31, mail the form to: Mass Wildlife Field Headquarters, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA 01581.
There was a funeral mass this week in Athol for MassWildlife photographer Bill Byrne. As this writer has stated before, Bill was a remarkable person and a very gifted outdoorsman and photographer. The service was a great tribute to Bill. His friends and family gathered afterward at Hartman’s Herb Farm in Barre to continue the celebration of a remarkable life that touched so many people.