The Wild Ones

With all the talk about the rally squirrel being rescued by the Wildlife Rescue Center, it might be good for us to remember the differences between wild animals and domestic pets. Domestic animals are conditioned to being fed and handled by humans, because that is all they have known their entire lives. These animals have never known the wild outdoors in the survival sense, and are not adequately prepared to provide for themselves without human intervention. They should not be allowed to roam around on their own, as it can be dangerous for them as well as wildlife. On the other hand, wild animals need to be left on their own. They have never been handled by humans in their entire lives and this occurrence would actually be quite stressful to them.
Stress can cause a condition called capture myopathy which can be fatal to wild animals. Wild animals see humans as big predators and will struggle to escape a human's grasp, which could cause injury to the animal as well as the human. All animals tend to seem cute and fuzzy to us and this may lead us to try to domesticate wild animals, especially baby animals. However, there are many health problems that can arise from wild babies being raised, handled and fed like domestics. Domestic animals are able to eat different types of pet foods and human foods with minimal effects on their system. Wild animals have such a special diet that they require much more than most pet foods provide. And as far as human foods, many of the basic foods we eat (such as milk, eggs, and sugar) are very harmful to wildlife.
Because of this, we really need to do our research and make sure we know the natural behaviors and diets of the wild animals before we feed them. If you are trying to feed certain animals, but are putting out food they don’t eat, you will probably get other animals you didn’t expect. Another thing that could happen as a result of wildlife being fed or handled by humans is habituation. This is when an animal gets so used to humans that their flight response no longer happens. Once humans are associated with food and the animal is no longer scared, they will approach humans instead of running. This can be very dangerous for humans and wildlife alike. Not every human is an animal-lover, and a habituated animal may not be able to tell the difference. Also if you stop or are unable to keep feeding the animal, it may start digging through the trash in the neighborhood. But most importantly, we must remember that even if the animal’s flight response is gone, the other instincts are still there and it may still try to defend itself if you try handling it.
Ultimately, the safest way to interact with wild animals is observing them from a distance. And, the rally squirrel agrees. When he was released, he practically flew out of that cage, up a tree and back into the wild.