It's the time of year when young animals are learning the ropes, and Sue Burton is urging people to think twice before trying to save what they think is an injured animal.
Burton is a volunteer wildlife rescuer in Williams Lake, and has been getting many calls from well-intentioned locals seeking help with injured wildlife. The problem is, almost every call she responds to ends up being about a young, healthy animal which the caller displaced thinking it was in need of help.
"They're just trying to be nice," Burton said of the many folks who've called her throughout the month of June about birds they thought had broken wings.
"They're not broken, they're just babies," she said. "They're learning how to fly and be birds."
Burton said fledglings, or young birds not yet able to fly, reach a stage where they look similar to full grown birds and so their behaviour often confuses unknowing onlookers. When young crows lose their fluffy feathers, people are often fooled into thinking the crow is an adult struggling to fly and thus must be injured. One tip Burton shared was to look into the bird's eyes.
"Baby crows and ravens have blue eyes," she said.
She also suggests people look around when they've found a bird they think may be injured.
"Just look the other way," she said, explaining people should see if there appears to be parents flying around nearby. If so, then it's likely a young bird learning to fly.
In any case, Burton said the best thing to do when you find wildlife which may be injured is to use common sense.
"Unless its wing is dragging, it's limping or foaming at the mouth," she said, then the bird should be left alone.
Burton will sometimes get calls about young deer too. She said to use the same common sense if you are unsure whether or not the fawn is hurt, but one trick is to look at its ears.
"Just leave it sitting there, unless it's ears are tightly curled," or it is visibly wounded, Burton said.
If you do find an animal you are sure is injured, she said to carefully scoop it up, put it in a box and give her a call.
