IS IT WRONG TO KEEP A WILD ANIMAL

WILD CORN SNAKE PET, WILD TOAD PET, BABY OWL,  RACCOON, BOX TURTLE...the list goes on and on. People like to try and make pets of wild creatures and generally the loser is the wild creature.

Depending on where you live,  you might be breaking the law!  Wild Creatures are not made to be pets and to do so is illegal, illegal, illegal in many places. You must be properly licensed to keep wild animals and that means you are trained to provide proper care and have a valid reason beyond your personal entertainment and desire to have a wild animal pet. 

Are you a kid with a wild thing, like tadpoles turning into frogs in a little aquarium?  I have not written this post to frighten you.  Please have your parents read the post and talk about it. That is fair, don't you think?  Talk about what is the best thing to do now.

This toad came by for a visit on a rainy day, sitting in the gutter drain.

Quoted from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Website:


“My child wants to make a pet of a box turtle (or any wild animal) we found in the woods. How do I care for it?"


"In Tennessee, no one is allowed to keep any animal as a pet taken from the wild, which to many people's surprise includes tadpoles, frogs, lizards, snakes, turtles, baby birds, squirrels, raccoons, and young deer. If the animal is injured, call the nearest of TWRA's four Regional Offices for a list of permitted rehabilitators, who will keep the animal until it can be returned to the wild. If it cannot be returned, the rehabilitator will turn the animal over to someone with a special Educator's Permit, who may be able to use the animal in a classroom or teaching setting.”

http://www.state.tn.us/twra/faqmain.html#Wildlife

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The Wildlife Regulations should be checked for where you live. However, wisdom says to leave the wild critters alone in their environment.  Take to a rehabilitator if circumstances are critical.


Sure, that little owl fallen from the nest is cute, responsive and you would love to keep it. Please don’t do that! Only properly trained and licensed people should care for wild animals. Wild animals are part of the natural cycles around us and are not intended to be a child’s “nature pet”. In fact, taking an animal from the wild is about the worst thing you can do for the animal.  Will you be able to give it the wild life it is born to live?  Once a baby animal sees you as its "mom", it is imprinted on you. As far as I know,  only animals which are raised by a mother/father like furry animals and birds will imprint.  It will not have the natural associations with others of its own kind and would die if released into the wild without the recognition and skills needed to hunt and eat, to meet and get along or avoid others of its kind and to avoid the greatest predator which is people.

 Call your wildlife agency and/or  veterinarians and keep calling or checking the net to find an animal rehab facility. That is where you can find out what to do. With wild snakes, turtles, toads, and other critters which are not injured and are old enough to care for their own needs, simply turn them loose in a proper place not far from where you found them.

A PET WATER SNAKE TAUGHT ME WHY

The brown water snake was caught in a small stream about 2 miles from my childhood home. It seemed ok to keep it in a small glass enclosure to show to friends and take out once in a while to be in the sun in my hands.  I got bit once in a while but it was not poisionous and the bite was not so bad.  I gave it a bowl of water, some bugs and a tadpole but that in no way took the place of its original stream and all the food for it there.

One day I went outside with the snake to let it sun. Being a kid, I got distracted for a moment then noticed the snake was gone! Oh no!  I searched everywhere and could not find the snake.  Two days later while walking around the neighborhood about a quarter mile from my home, I found my water snake.  It was on the curb and dead. A car had run over it.  Where was the snake? It was in a direct line from where I lost it to its home in the stream.  Going home?  That is what I believe and I learned the lesson to leave the wild critters in their home. I was the kid who had a snake pet and the snake died because I took it from its natural home. Now, when I see a water snake I will watch it or try to get a photo but I leave it alone to live the life intended.