In Florida, spring comes early, and with spring comes the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center's busy season. Before long we will have every cage, carrier, mews, and incubator filled with birds, mammals and reptiles. Our world will be filled with eye droppers, baby bottles, and blended assortments of diets unique to each species we treat. Our "clients" will include raccoons, possums, rabbits, squirrels, and hundreds of birds.

However, many of the "orphans" we receive are not really abandoned. If you find a nest of birds or mammal babies which seem "abandoned," please do not snatch them up and call for rescue. Observe the nest of twenty-four hours. In most cases, the parents are out foraging for food and will return. Remember, parents have to eat, too, and, in the case of birds, bring back food for their young. Only if the nest seems unvisited for a day should you take action.

If you find one or more birds out of their nests, and you can reach the nest safely, place the birds back in the nest. Contrary to popular myth, birds do not smell human odor on their young. They will continue to take care of them as before. If you cannot reach the nest, place them on as high a branch as you can reach. The parents will find them and take care of them. It is not unusual for babies to fall out or otherwise leave the nest before they are ready to fly. Parents treat them the same as those in the nest, and they will be fine.

Remember that it is illegal to take and care for wildlife yourself. They have complex nutritional needs, can carry disease, and, in many cases, can inflict harm. Give them no food or water; call your local wildlife rescue agency and they will take it from there. Corral a young bird or mammal(s) in soft towels or sheet and place the critter in a hamper, laundry basket or box lined with towels or other soft material. If the container is covered, the animal will probably remain calm.

If the animal is large, or aggressive, or seems to be acting strangely, do not attempt to capture it yourself. Call the experts and give them or take them to the exact location of the injured or orphaned animal.

Here are some further tips that can help minimize injured, orphaned, or displaced wildlife:

• Many raccoons, squirrels, and birds are orphaned when the tree in which their nest is located is removed. Do not cut down a tree or demolish an abandoned building in the spring or early summer until you are absolutely sure that there is no nesting wildlife.
• Before the need arises, find the name of your local rehabilitator or wildlife rescue organization and put the name and number in an easy-to-find location.
• If you discover animal intruders in your building, please try to ascertain if they have young. Do not exclude the animals from the dwelling or building until they are old enough for their mother to walk them out, and only then seal off their entry points. If you seal the young in while the parents are out, they will starve, die, and smell. Be patient! Babies grow fast.
• Be very wary about live trapping during baby season-March through October. Babies are entirely independent on their parents for food and protection. If you capture a parent animal, you are condemning any young to slow starvation and predation.

There have been many ads lately for nuisance animal removal services. People who hear noises in their attic are often clients for such services. However, before you employ an firm to investigate and remove what appear to be nuisance animals, there are some things to remember and points to evaluate.

This industry is unregulated, and practices vary greatly. Here are some guidelines to assess the performance parameters of such services.

Wildlife nuisance removal should

• be grounded in sound principles of urban wildlife management
• be target animal specific
• protect the life of the animals
• minimize stress caused by removal
• preserve the family unit
• reduce animals' conflict with the environment
• maintain existing population (note: if you depopulate an area, others move in and the numbers actually increase
• prevent spreading of disease/parasites
• initiate and utilize the natural response of the animal (note: most species have multiple den sites; if you remove the animal and prevent re-entry, they will go to the alternate (non-nuisance) site
• provide long-term solutions to the client

Any successful intervention should entail four steps:

1. inspection to identify all points and potential points of entry and to confirm suspected species
2. removal from all den affected den sites, including all members of the family unit, thereby reducing stress
3. animal-proofing of all entry points (During this time, removed animals are kept in secure, species-specific holding containment on the grounds where they were captured.)
4. release of animals on-site to seek alternate den sites after the structures are entry-proofed

This last point may seem controversial to potential clients, but is essential to maintain ecological balance and stable populations. Removal often invites unbalance increases in population.

Effective wildlife proofing requires the nuisance control operator to "think like a wild animal." Successful wildlife proofing must:

• remove potential attractions
• restrict den site availability
• eliminate the need for wildlife removal

There are tested techniques for dealing with both specific structural areas, and species' habits and traits. A competent nuisance wildlife control operator will know how to deal with areas such as window wells, porches, decks and sheds, wall and plumbing vents, garage joist spaces, roof fascia gaps, roof vents, flashing, chimneys, etc. Each area may entail a different technique to effectively prevent re-entry.

The critical point is that any services provided should include re-entry proofing as part of the service. Nuisance removal without this service will accomplish nothing, and the problem will recur. Capture and removal from the area will not ameliorate the problem. Merely trapping the animal, without identifying and remediating the attractant will result in repopulation.

Anyone employing a removal service should ask pointed questions and evaluate the service based on the criteria listed.

During the course of the year, among the thousands of injured and orphaned animals we rehabilitate or treat, a certain number are non-native species, including prairie dogs, non-native lizards, reptiles and other species. None can be released into the wild. If we cannot find homes for them, they must be destroyed.

But many are never brought to us; and those that escape or are released into the wild, where there are often no natural predators, have a devastating impact on native plant and animal species, radically upsetting the balance.

A recent example is the proliferation of Nile monitor lizards in the Cape Coral area of Southwestern Florida. This African lizard was first spotted in the area in 1990. Finding the region hospital in both climate and food source, the monitor has proliferated in large numbers.

But this is no little anole or gecko. The Nile Monitor, a close relation to the Komodo Dragon, can grow to seven feet and weigh up to 20 pounds. They are aggressive and will attack animals and humans. Their ravenous appetite is devastating the bird, mammal and reptile population, thus radically upsetting the balance of nature. If that isn't bad enough, people are beginning to report regular attacks on humans. Like many other lizards, they can carry disease such as salmonella.

Most likely the Nile monitors got into the environment because people bought eight inch babies for $20.00 in pet stores, only to discover that they grew into fierce carnivores fully capable of devouring the family cat. The result: pet owners releasing their "pets" into the wild. It is estimated that there are 14,000 Nile monitors already in the US, and over 2 million new ones imported every year. If they continue to be released into the wild, they will be far more hazardous than Africanized honey (a.k.a. "killer") bees!

The Nile monitor is the latest in a tragic parade of released exotics, including exotic fish, potbellied pigs, parrots, prairie dogs and other non-native species, every one of which has wreaked havoc on the native environment. In fact, there are over 275 non-native animal species in Florida. Once released and breeding, they are virtually impossible to eradicate or even control.

The exotic pet industry totally unregulated. (Would it surprise you to know that there are over 8,000 tigers privately owned in Florida?)

We urge you not to purchase any exotic pet of any kind; and to urge others to similarly refrain. Until and unless the exotic pet industry is regulated or eliminated, it will be up to environmentally concerned individuals to help mitigate the disastrous effect of this trade.

We have written before in this newsletter about the devastating effect of off-road vehicles causing environmental havoc through soil erosion, water pollution, and habitat loss as a result of extensive off-trail use in national and state forests throughout the United States.

Now, the Federal Forest Service has proposed new regulations that would eventually restrict the use of these vehicles in national forests. This law deserves to be emulated by the Interior Department, whose record in protecting the environment is questionable, at best. This is especially important because the lands most at risk in addition to the national forests are lands controlled by the Interior Department?s Bureau of Land Management, and they are not a party to this proposed law.

The proposal would require each national forest to confine motorized off-road vehicles to designated trails, and forbid them to roam free. There are over 10 million registered off-road vehicles, and their use in national forests has increased sevenfold since 1972.

Florida is taking the lead in limiting the use of these vehicles. The administration has supported a plan devised during the Clinton administration to restrict the use of swamp buggies in Big Cypress National Preserve. It sets a hopeful precedent.

Ironically, over 30 years ago, Richard Nixon called for a "unified national strategy" that would restrict off-road vehicles to designated areas to "minimize significant reduction to wildlife habitat."

Alas, any legislation having major impact would have to come through the interior secretary, who has indicated a strong preference for local stewardship of natural resources, rather that top-down legislation. As we have seen with such programs such as mitigation, such local enforcement almost means more destruction.

As the number of babies grows, so does our need for help. Our greatest task in caring for wildlife is the daily feeding and cleaning for the large number of orphans as well as the injury cases. If you have some time to spare, preferably on a regular basis, please consider lending a hand. Our success is due to the efforts of all involved. Learn more here.