If you乌鸦传媒檝e ever seen a turtle or a bunny in the wild and thought, 乌鸦传媒楾his must be a lost pet. I shall rescue it,乌鸦传媒� Amber Quiring thanks you for being a kind and caring person.

But please, don乌鸦传媒檛 do it.

The owner Chilliwack乌鸦传媒檚 Reptile Room said they乌鸦传媒檝e had far too many people bringing them animals that should be left right where they are.

乌鸦传媒淭he most common ones, by far, are the red-eared sliders (turtles),乌鸦传媒� Amber Quiring said. 乌鸦传媒淏ecause they are so abundant in our area, people find one in a parking lot or in their yard and bring it in to us because they think it乌鸦传媒檚 someone乌鸦传媒檚 pet.乌鸦传媒�

Alligator lizards are another one Quiring sees often.

乌鸦传媒淭hey are found everywhere, up Chilliwack Mountain and down by the Fraser and Vedder rivers,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淧eople who think they乌鸦传媒檙e helping catch these lizards, they bring them inside and they come here asking me what they need to feed them.

乌鸦传媒淭hey see an Alligator lizard in the fall and they wonder why it乌鸦传媒檚 just sitting there doing nothing. Well, almost all reptiles are ectothermic, meaning they move slowly in colder temperatures. So that lizard is just chilling there because it乌鸦传媒檚 chilling, getting ready to hibernate.乌鸦传媒�

The third one is bunnies. Wild rabbits are all over Chilliwack.

乌鸦传媒淧eople see a bunch of little baby bunnies running all over their yard, and they scoop them up thinking they乌鸦传媒檙e saving them,乌鸦传媒� Quiring said. 乌鸦传媒淏ut what乌鸦传媒檚 usually happened is those bunnies have just left the nest for the first time and nobody knew a nest was there. We probably get 10 to 12 or so litters brought in to us every season.乌鸦传媒�

Once a baby bunny is removed from its home, its odds of survival drop considerably. Even if it乌鸦传媒檚 taken back to where it came from, it won乌鸦传媒檛 be welcome.

乌鸦传媒淚f we touch them, the majority of the time their mom won乌鸦传媒檛 want to care for them anymore because she smells the threat on them,乌鸦传媒� Quiring said. 乌鸦传媒淪he乌鸦传媒檒l ignore them and they乌鸦传媒檒l either thrive or die.乌鸦传媒�

Bringing a wild animal into a home with existing pets can also be a bad idea, particularly with lizards.

乌鸦传媒淚n their natural habitat, they have natural immunity to things like E. coli and whatever else they乌鸦传媒檇 be picking up from rocks and streams,乌鸦传媒� Quiring said. 乌鸦传媒淵ou bring this animal into your home and you乌鸦传媒檙e touching it and you bring in your bearded dragon to see if they can be friends. Well now you乌鸦传媒檝e just introduced E. coli or something else into your bearded dragon乌鸦传媒檚 immune system and it doesn乌鸦传媒檛 have immunity to bad bacteria and stuff like that.

乌鸦传媒淚t might take you too long to notice to something is wrong and that animal may die.乌鸦传媒�

All of that said, Quiring has a very simple rule of thumb for deciding whether to 乌鸦传媒榮ave乌鸦传媒� an animal.

乌鸦传媒淎nimals you find in the wild should be left in the wild unless they are very clearly someone乌鸦传媒檚 pet.乌鸦传媒�

eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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