Wildlife Experts Share the Most Common Mistake People Make With Orphaned Baby Animals
Warmer weather brings something that wildlife experts call "baby season." As the sun comes out, so do baby wild animals.
For many people, the first instinct is to help. But that might cause more harm than good. Naturally, when you see a baby animal, you assume the worst. But most of the time, these animals are not abandoned.
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Per the Humane World for Animals, it is important to assess the situation before engaging with a wild animal.
Per John Griffin, a senior managing director of urban wildlife at the organization, "While it is critical to provide care for animals in need of help, it is equally as important to assess the situation to determine whether intervention is truly necessary. Wild animals typically do best when they're raised by their parents."
Most people think they are being cruel by leaving the animal in need on its own. But that is not cruelty. You are being compassionate without context. And the context is what matters.
Related: One Man Went Searching for Wisconsin's Weirdest Bird Story-and Actually Found It
Baby Animals Are Not on Their Own
You might not realize it, but in the wild, mothers leave their young hidden and unattended for hours at a time. This is their way of teaching survival instincts. It is not abandonment.
For example, a deer doe will visit and nurse her babies only a few times a day. They are trying to avoid drawing predators to their location. If you see a fawn lying still in tall grass, calm and quiet, that is completely normal. The young baby uses stillness as their defense.
Parade Pets covered a moment just like this recently, when a fawn walked directly up to a family during their stroll through the woods. The family did everything right: they watched, they marveled, and they walked away. That fawn was fine.
Baby rabbits follow the same logic. Mothers visit their nest only two times in a 24-hour period, at dawn and dusk. If you happen to find a nest of small rabbits in your yard, check whether the mother will come back. Do not intervene.
How to Tell When an Animal Needs Help
There are real signs that a baby wild animal is in trouble. According to Humane World for Animals, those include: a featherless bird on the ground, a shivering animal, a visibly injured animal, one covered in parasites, or a baby crying continuously while wandering. Or, the biggest sign, a dead adult nearby.
If any of those apply, or if the animal has been in a cat or dog's mouth even briefly, contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.
Baby Foxes Are a Special Case
Fox kits tend to look unsupervised when they're actually not. They'll play around a den site while their parents are out hunting. Sometimes, the parents can be gone for hours. If the kits look healthy and energetic, leave them alone. Call for help if the baby foxes look weak, or if you know for sure their parents are dead. The video below explains more about how foxes hunt.
Recently, we wrote about a family that discovered a red fox had made a den directly beneath their front porch. The kits were napping on the welcome mat. Their response was perfect: they watched from a distance, kept their cat indoors, and let the fox family do what fox families do.
What to Do If You Encounter Young Wildlife Animals
According to the Humane World for Animals, every baby animal deserves different treatment. If you have already picked them, here is guidance on handling the situation.
A deer doe will still want her fawn back, even if a human has handled it. Your best action is to return the fawn to the exact location where you found it. Then leave the area, as the mother will not return while you are standing there.
If you find baby rabbits, wear gloves when handling nesting material. Then, use yarn or sticks in a tic-tac-toe pattern over the nest. Come back after 24 hours, and if the pattern has been disturbed but the nest is still covered, the mother has come back.
Most importantly, observe before you act, and when in doubt, call a wildlife rehabilitator rather than guessing.
Related: Rare Fox Graces Lake Tahoe's Forest For the First Time Since the Mid-1900s
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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 9:48 AM.