SPRINGTIME CAUTION: LEAVE YOUNG WILDLIFE ALONE

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SPRINGTIME CAUTION: LEAVE YOUNG WILDLIFE ALONE Posted: 20 Apr 2011 12:00 PM PDT Young animals may seem abandoned but are seldom alone in the wild; “rescue,” however, may kill them PRATT — Spring is a time of rebirth and birth, with trees budding and young wildlife being born and hatched, and different levels of parental care are employed within the animal kingdom, all designed to work without human interference. But one common problem occurs when seemingly abandoned or orphaned wildlife are picked up by well-intentioned persons, often with tragic results. Mammals such as deer often leave their young to search for food. Deer fawns are born with natural camouflage and little scent, making it difficult for predators to detect them. A spotted coat helps hide young as they sit motionless in surrounding cover. These adaptations make it possible for the doe to move about and feed, maintaining her strength as she provides for her young. Raccoons and other mammals employ similar strategies. Well-meaning individuals sometimes discover young deer, raccoons, foxes, rabbits, or skunks and assume that they are orphaned or abandoned. Usually, the mother is close at hand but out of sight waiting for the human intruders to leave the area. In this situation, it is extremely important to leave the animals as found in the wild. To pick them up and take them home is illegal, for good reason. Wild animals often have very specific dietary requirements and often die under human care. Those that do survive have little chance of surviving if returned to the wild. Another reason to avoid picking up wild animals is health. Wild animals carry diseases and parasites that can infect humans or their pets. Dogs, if not vaccinated, may contract distemper from infected coyotes, foxes, or even weasels. Bobcats can transmit a similar disease to domestic cats. Ticks from host animals can expose humans to Lyme disease, and perhaps the greatest danger wild animals pose to humans is rabies. Many animals can carry rabies for several days without showing any outward symptoms. Pet dogs and cats should also be restrained during the season when young birds, rabbits, and other wildlife are young. Both dogs and cats can be deadly to wild young, no matter how friendly they may seem to humans. It can be a wonderful experience to see young animals in the wild, but for the benefit of the wildlife, it is important to leave them in the wild, where they are best equipped to survive.

Ray County cattleman kills mountain lion

The 115-pound cat was a young male, which is consistent with

the theory that Missouri mountain lions come from other states.

COLUMBIA–Conservation officials say a mountain lion killed by a cattleman in Ray County was a young male that showed no sign of having been held in captivity.

Conservation Agent Tammy Pierson said Bob Littleton went to one of his pastures Sunday night after coon hounds treed a mountain lion where his cattle were grazing. He killed the mountain lion with a shot to the head from a .22-cal. rifle.

Littleton reported the incident as required by law. Pierson collected the mountain lion this morning and sent it to the Missouri Department of Conservation Resource Science Center in Columbia, where resource scientists examined it this afternoon.

Conservation Department furbearer biologist Jeff Beringer said the mountain lion weighed 115.2 pounds and measured a little over 6.5 feet from nose to tip of tail.  The sharp edges of the cat’s teeth and faint barring on the insides of its legs indicate it was a young male, probably three years or younger. Beringer said laboratory tests will provide more detailed information about the cat’s age and genetic makeup.

“We removed a small premolar tooth that will be sectioned so we can count the annual growth rings,” said Beringer. “That will tell us exactly how old it was. DNA testing will tell us whether it was related to native mountain lions in states to the west of Missouri, or if it is more closely related to mountain lions from somewhere else – possibly captive animals.”

Northwest Nebraska is the area nearest Missouri with an established mountain lion population.

Genetic testing also will determine whether the mountain lion killed in Ray County is the same one photographed by a landowner in Platte County in November.

Beringer said nothing in his examination of the Ray County mountain lion led him to believe it had been held in captivity. It had no tattoos or electronic identification tags – customary ways of marking captive cats. Its skin and paws showed no sign of having lived in a concrete-floored enclosure, and it still had its dewclaws, which often are surgically removed in captive animals to prevent injury.

The Ray County cat is Missouri’s 12^th confirmed mountain lion sighting since 1994. Most of the mountain lions whose bodies have been recovered have been young males. Young males are the most mobile mountain lions, because they typically leave their birth areas to establish territories not already occupied by adult males. This is consistent with biologists’ theory that the cats are coming into Missouri from other states. Beringer said there is no evidence of reproduction for mountain lions in Missouri to date. This indicates that Missouri does not have  a self-sustaining mountain lion population.

Because of evidence that Missouri no longer had an established population of mountain lions (Felis concolor), the Missouri Conservation Commission reclassified the species from “endangered” to “extirpated” in 2006. This means the species no longer exists as a self-sustaining population.

Also in 2006, the Conservation Commission adopted a policy that re-establishment of a sustainable mountain lion population in Missouri is not desirable, due to the potential for conflict with human activities.

Missouri’s Wildlife Code does protect mountain lions, but the Wildlife Code also allows the killing of any mountain lion that attacks or kills livestock or domestic animals or threatens human safety. People who kill mountain lions mustreport the incident to MDC immediately and turn over the intact carcass, including the pelt, within 24 hours.”

More information about reporting mountain lion sightings and how to deal with mountain lions is available at http://bit.ly/ciJDvb.

-Jim Low-

Related articles

• Some mountain lions descending to the Plains (reuters.com)