Keeping Wildlife Wild
A baby deer was left by its mother. Should I help?
Never pick up wildlife. It’s natural for deer and elk to leave their young alone for extended periods of time in spring. If you see a baby animal, whether a goose or a grizzly, keep your distance and leave it alone.
It’s been a harsh winter. Should I feed wildlife?
Feeding wildlife places animals, people, and pets at risk. Leaving out food sources encourages wildlife to become dependent on handouts that are not part of their natural diets. Food conditioning and habituation often lead to euthanizing an animal for safety reasons.
Wildlife knows no boundaries. Wildlife-friendly fences that work for livestock
Wildlife-friendly fences prevent injuries to wildlife and allows them to travel the land, while keeping livestock in.
These fences also save you time and money from frustrating repairs caused by animals breaking through fences. Learn how to install and maintain one at… “A Landowner’s Guide to Wildlife Friendly Fences”
Can I let my cats and dogs roam outside?
One of the quickest ways to antagonize your neighbors is to let your dog chase livestock.
Regardless if the livestock are on a ranch or a hobby farm, they are considered an important investment and are often regarded as part of the family. It is also important to keep your pets under control, especially in the spring when newborn wildlife is most vulnerable. Pet owners can be cited, and dogs that harass or kill wildlife and livestock may be destroyed by law.
It is especially important to keep cats indoors. It is the only safe thing to do when it comes to birds. Many birds nest and feed on the ground.
The bacteria in their saliva are toxic to birds, so even if a cat does not immediately kill a bird, its bite often leads to infection and death. There are resources online on how to retrain your cats to happily live indoors. Learn what you can do in Love Your Cats, But…
Other questions: Are beavers bringing your cottonwoods down or flooding your fields? Are bats in the attic bad and how can I safely and humanely remove them? How can I keep backyard chickens safe from predators or the bird flu? Should I be concerned about mountain lions and my children and pets roaming in the woods?
For these and other questions, check Living with Wildlife, by MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks.