ESCANABA — DNR Escanaba Field Office Wildlife Biologist Karen Sexton has a message for everyone.

“Keep wildlife wild, don’t touch the wild baby animals,” she said.

No matter who you talk to in the Department of Natural Resources, the ultimate message heard will be — keep wildlife wild.

Humans are the biggest threat to baby wildlife, according to Sexton.

“It’s a difficult message for the majority of the public to hear. We have this sense to nurture everything,” said Sexton.

She said people need to let nature take it’s course and let it be. The Escanaba Field Office recently received a phone call reporting a fawn was left all alone from a concerned citizen.

“I was fortunate to observe other species … the mother will be out feeding and not come back to its baby, eight to 12 hours. Sometimes you’ll hear the wild young calling, but she’s decided for whatever reason that she’s going to continue feeding because that’s what she needs to do in order to provide nourishment or whatever the case is,” Sexton noted.

Only licensed wildlife rehabilitators may work with wild animals. It is illegal for anyone without the license to touch a wild animal. Delta and Schoolcraft counties do not have a licensed wildlife rehabilitator at this time. There is one in Menominee County and they only take in deer. Some rehabilitators may not have the facilities to take in every living thing, or only specific animals.

“We have folks come into the office and say they have a fawn in the back of their car, this is the worst case scenario for everybody,” said Sexton. “It’s likely that fawn would have been just fine and now we have a little fawn in the car and we have to figure out how to get it where … it’s not natural for the animal to be in that space. Even though it hasn’t necessarily developed it’s flight instinct, reality is it is probably stressed and doesn’t want to deal with where it’s at. The whole situation is negatively impacting that animal once it is moved from the regular setting.”

Fawns are left alone by their mothers for long durations of time. The scent of a fawn is undetectable at a young age and is passed over by predators. Expect to see fawns in May and June, but enjoy them from a distance. The best thing to do is leave the baby alone. The mother will return to the spot.

Cottontail rabbits have more than one litter a year. The mother will leave the nest when sensing danger to lure the predator away, otherwise it is with the nest.

A baby raccoon may look cute, but it can turn very aggressive as they age. An adult raccoon will have babies in the months of April and May.

As baby wild animals mature, they become aggressive and can possibly harm the person who took them in. The DNR Escanaba Field Office receives calls for help and sometimes the outcome of the animal doesn’t turn out good.

In addition to getting calls about “abandoned” fawns, the Escanaba Field Office receives phone calls regarding birds from concerned people. Once again Sexton advises to leave the wild babies alone.

Baby birds may be found on the ground while they are learning to fly. The parents will continue to feed the baby bird even on the ground. If it is moved the parents may not be able to find it.

Mallards and geese nest in what they think is a safe location, even if it may be in an urban and suburban yard. As with all nests and dens, leave the mother with her young alone. Geese will hiss and charge at their attacker.

Birds, nests and eggs are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Sexton did note, If you come upon a turtle and determine it needs help to cross a road, place it forward from where you picked it up in the direction the turtle was facing.

Visit the Michigan Department of Natural Resources website to learn more about the habitats of animals and where to locate licensed wildlife rehabilitators. www.michigan.gov/dnr

“The best chance for an animal to survive is to leave the animal alone in the wild,” said Sexton.