Concerns For Wildlife During Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend is the official start to lake season but it also brings about concern for wildlife in those areas.

The WildCare Foundation in Noble, a non-profit that works to rehabilitate and eventually release the animals back into the wild, is hoping to prevent a reoccurring problem associated with this time of year.

Director Rondi Large says people tend to unnecessarily rescue animals, particularly fawns.

"These little fawns, since they are so young, their first defense is to curl up in a little ball keep their head low and be still and hope that predators will walk by," Large said that rarely happens.

Instead, park-goers have a tendency to assume the young deer is abandoned and try to rescue it.

"People don't know that's how they protect themselves and think they are little orphans because the doe is not right there," said Large. "But [the doe] is watching from the trees behind where they can't see her as you pick up that fawn and kidnap it."

Large says 80 percent of the 5,000 animals Wildcare takes in each year are kidnapped, with fawns being the most common.

"We can't teach them the things that their parents can teach them," Large explained, "so they are at a horrible disadvantage."

Wildcare does its best to recreate the natural habitat for the animals and to nurture the babies as their parents would. When they're grown, Wildcare will release the deer back into the wild, and Rondi Large can only hope their offspring will not end up in the same spot.

"When you find them." Large urged, "please leave them alone and let mom raise these babies."

The Wildcare Foundation operates solely on donation. To find out how you can help click here.