It’s best to leave wild young animals alone. That’s the main advice the Pennsylvania Game Commission is offering to those who encounter baby animals this spring and summer.

While you may think a young animal has been abandoned, it’s likely that its mother is nearby out of sight.

The agency reports the best thing you can do for young animals is to leave it alone.

“Well-intentioned people might step in to help a young animal that appears to be alone, not realizing its mother is nearby and it’s not in need of help,” Matthew Schnupp, the Game Commission’s wildlife management director, said in a news release. “That’s one reason why leaving young wildlife undisturbed in the wild typically is the best solution when encountering young wild animals.”

Adult animals are often nearby

Adult animals often leave their young while looking for food, but they eventually return. Also the agency reports wildlife also often relies on a natural defensive tactic called the “hider strategy,” where young animals will remain motionless and “hide” in surrounding cover while adults draw the attention of potential predators or other intruders away from their young.

The Game Commission urges people not to interfere with young wildlife or remove any wild animal from its natural setting as it can be harmful to both people and wildlife. 

People could be fined taking animals

It is illegal to take or possess wildlife from the wild. Under state law, the penalty for such a violation is a fine of up to $1,500 per animal.

The Game Commission reports under no circumstances will anyone who illegally takes wildlife into captivity be allowed to keep that animal, and under a working agreement with state health officials, any “high risk” rabies vector species confiscated after human contact must be euthanized and tested; none can be returned to the wild because the risk of spreading disease is too high.

Only wildlife rehabilitators, who are licensed by the Game Commission, are permitted to care for injured or orphaned wildlife for the purposes of eventual release back into the wild. 

Who to call if an animal needs care

For those who find wildlife in need of assistance, a listing of licensed wildlife rehabilitators can be found on the Pennsylvania Association of Wildlife Rehabilitators website, www.pawr.com.

If you are unable to identify a wildlife rehabilitator in your area, contact the Game Commission by phone at 1-833-PGC-WILD or 1-833-PGC-HUNT.

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at[email protected] and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website’s homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook@whipkeyoutdoors, and Instagram atwhipkeyoutdoors.