Fawns, baby rabbits should be left alone

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This time of year, area wildlife managers are asking suburban and rural residents to be extra mindful of young wildlife. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF), for example, says whitetailed deer fawns and baby rabbits are showing up in yards and fields, and the first thing some people want to do is help.

Don't go near them, pleads the VDGIF. In almost all cases, the best assistance you can render is to leave them be. Otherwise, you might inadvertently lead dogs to the hidden youngsters. Fawns, born from April through July, are frequently left alone by their mothers to avoid leading predators to their location. The mothers will return several times each day to move the young or feed them.

Yes, it's a normal human reaction to want to come to the aid of a creature that appears to have been abandoned, but usually that's not the case. Even if it seems the deer or cottontail rabbit offspring was abandoned, it most likely wasn't. A doe (the name applies to deer and rabbit females) will leave its young alone for periods of time while looking for food, but she will return.

Virginia wildlife officials say if a fawn or rabbit has been "rescued" when it shouldn't have been, it often can be released at the same location. Parents tend to remain in the area for at least a day looking for their lost youngsters.

If a wild animal has been injured or truly orphaned, you can locate a licensed wildlife rehabilitator by calling the VDGIF dispatch at 804/367-1258 (24 hours, seven days a week) or visit the VDGIF Web site at dgif.virginia.gov.

Raising a wild animal in captivity is illegal unless you have a special state permit. More importantly, each animal's nutritional, housing and handling requirements are specific. Feeding the wrong food to a fawn can make it sick and possibly lead to its death. For example, cow's milk will induce severe diarrhea in fawns.

Even under professional care, the survival rate of rehabilitated fawns and other wild animals is low.

Sea gull control to begin -- From Virginia Beach, the Associated Press reports that state wildlife managers plan to kill a number of sea gulls this week on the south island of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel to reduce traffic safety problems associated with the increasing bird population.

In addition to shooting the birds, the hired managers will coat remaining gull eggs with vegetable oil, a process called addling, which suffocates the chicks before they hatch.

Thousands of herring gulls, laughing gulls and black-backed gulls have taken up residence on the tunnel island, where they prey upon a smaller and more fragile population of common terns and black skimmers.