Most wildlife visiting our centre have suffered from injuries and problems caused by humans. Here are a few helpful suggestions for preventing injury to our animal friends. Following these suggestions will greatly reduce injury to native wildlife.

1. Prevent your pet cats and dogs from attacking and/or "playing with" wildlife. Don't allow them to run without supervision. Raise your cats as indoor pets. Many injured animals are brought to the clinic each year with terrible wounds from dog and cat attacks. Feral cats have been known to wipe out an entire species of birds!

2. Alert birds to large expanses of glass in your home, such as patio doors or picture windows, by hanging streamers, putting bird silhouettes on the glass surface, or allowing glass to be a little bit dirty. Reducing the reflection should cut down on the number of birds who collide, often fatally, with windows and doors.

3. Use non-toxic products on your lawn and garden.

4. Motor oil should not be left in oil pans unattended. Birds often fall into these pans and few survive.

5. Open rain barrels are a danger to squirrels and small animals. They can fall into them and drown - try to keep a mesh type top on them.

6. As a general rule, leave infant wildlife alone, since they are not always truly orphaned. A parent may be nearby or will return soon. Be sure they are in need of help before you remove them from the nest area.

7. Do not attempt to raise or keep wildlife yourself. Not only is it illegal, but wild creatures do not make good pets and captivity poses a constant stress to them. Young wildlife raised without contact with their own species fail to develop survival skills and fear of humans, virtually eliminating their chances of survival in the wild.

8. Educate children to respect and care for all wild creatures and their habitats. Children need to learn that wild animals are not play things and should be allowed to go about their lives unmolested. Children should also be told not to destroy nests, burrows and other wildlife homes and to never throw rocks at animals.

9. Pick up litter and refuse that could harm wildlife, including six-pack connecters (after cutting each circle to reduce the risk of entanglement), fishing line, and watch batteries (if consumed by waterfowl they can cause mercury poisoning). Letting helium balloons go in the wind may be pretty to see but they eventually land and get swallowed by animals or birds!

10. Be alert when driving, especially near wildlife refuges and in rural areas, to avoid hitting or running over wild creatures. Animals do not recognize the danger from an oncoming vehicle. Please stop and move any turtles away from the roadway or shoulder of the road.

11. Place caps over all chimneys and vents on your roof to prevent birds, ducks and raccoons from taking up residence and becoming a nuisance or getting trapped.

12. Do not leave fishing line or fish hooks unattended or lying about outdoors. Try to retrieve any kite string left on the ground or entangled in trees.

13. Before mowing your lawn or rototilling your garden, walk through the area first to make sure no Snowshoe hares or ground-nesting birds are in harms way. Remember, it only takes a couple of weeks for these babies to grow and leave the nest. Be tolerant and give them the time they need.

14. Check trees to make sure there are no active nests or residents of cavities before cutting them down. Even better, avoid cutting down dead trees if they pose no safety hazard since they provide homes for a wide variety of wildlife.

15. Delay trapping and relocating wildlife in the Spring as this causes many of the offspring to become orphaned.