Six ways to protect baby birds and other animals this spring

It’s springtime, and with it comes an opportunity to remind San Luis Obispo residents what that means for our local wildlife and our human impact on them.

We all remember learning in school about how spring is the time of renewal, including nests and every bird and mammal having babies! Well, this is also the time that Morro Bay-based Pacific Wildlife Care (PWC) will begin to see an uptick in the number of cases brought to its rehabilitation center.

You can help keep those numbers down if you remember and remind others of these simple guidelines:

1. Check shrubs and trees for nests before doing any trimming. (If there are nests, you will need to wait another month or so to do your trimming.)

2. Check yards and lots for ground nests before weed-whacking (delay if nests are discovered). It is illegal to disturb a nest with eggs or babies in it.

3. Leave fawns (baby deer) alone and keep pets and children away (as they are likely awaiting their mother’s return from her foraging). Call PWC if you know the mother is dead or if the fawn is wandering around, crying. Do not feed anything!

4. Do not trap mammals (opossums, raccoons, skunks), as they will then have to be killed (it’s illegal to trap and relocate wildlife). Doing so may cause their babies to become orphans!

5. If you see young, fledgling birds (just learning to fly), keep cats and dogs indoors for the two to four days it takes the youngster to learn to fly!

6. Never keep wildlife — unless you are licensed to do so or are delivering it into the care of Pacific Wildlife Care (a licensed nonprofit organization serving San Luis Obispo County since 1986).

If you have any wildlife in your attic, or under your house or deck, PWC offers a “humane exclusion” program, which will help the wildlife move back to their native habitat.

If you do find orphaned or injured wildlife, please call the PWC hotline at 805-543-WILD (9453) as soon as possible.

If you would like to learn about volunteering, call the number above or check the website www.pacificwildlifecare.org to find out when the next monthly volunteer orientation will be held.

Thank you for helping our county wildlife have a chance, while PWC gives them a second chance.

Marcelle Bakula is a volunteer with Pacific Wildlife Care.

This story was originally published March 28, 2016 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Six ways to protect baby birds and other animals this spring."