It’s Okay To Help, but Keeping Wildlife in New York Is Illegal

It’s that time of year when people start to find seemingly abandoned wildlife babies on their property and want to help, but aren’t sure what to do.

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The first thing that you need to know is that it’s illegal to keep wildlife in New York State. What that means is that let’s say, you find an adorable wild bunny in your yard, capture it, and keep it as a pet, which would be violating New York State law.

The second thing you need to know is that as much as you might want to help a seemingly abandoned baby wildlife creature, you may be doing more harm than good. If you find an animal on your property and feel like it needs to be fed or given water, you need to do some serious research before diving in.

Also, keep in mind that giving either food or water could inadvertently harm or kill the animal. Many animals need to maintain a certain body temperature to be able to tolerate food or water and if their body isn’t at the right temperature and you feed or give it water, it could aspirate.

How To Help Abandoned Baby Wildlife Found On Your Property

When you find a baby animal on your property that appears to have been abandoned, it can be so tempting to rescue them, but sometimes that causes more harm than good. Here are a few examples of ways you can help wildlife that has been left alone where you live.

LOOK: Here are the pets banned in each state

Because the regulation of exotic animals is left to states, some organizations, including The Humane Society of the United States, advocate for federal, standardized legislation that would ban owning large cats, bears, primates, and large poisonous snakes as pets.

Read on to see which pets are banned in your home state, as well as across the nation.