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May 26, 1988 - Nature Can Take Care of Its Own1 t May 26, 1988/The Suffolk Times /Page 9A Nature Can Take Care of Its Own By Paul Stoutenburgh It's hard to know just what to write about this week because so much is happening. An avalanche of activity has burst forth and no matter where you look a new and exciting phase of the natural world is unfolding around you. It's rewarding to me to see people re- Focus on Nature spond to this awakening of spring and in general have concern for the outdoors. Recently we spoke of the influx of warblers, those small colorful birds that winter in the Caribbean and South America and during the month of May move through our area in waves of color. Most only stop to rest on their journey northward to start their nesting cycle. One of these warblers flitted across a busy highway and was hit by a car. The important part of this story is that a passerby happened to catch a glimpse of yellow color flying through the air. He stopped to check it out. In his hand he held a beautiful, but stunned, yellow warbler. There were no marks of damage but what to do now? He drove to our place and on the way noticed there were signs of life. It did my heart good to see the con- cern this young man had shown for such a small bit of feathered gold. We did ev- erything we could to make sure the little bird would recover. We kept it warm and out of harm's reach and in a short time it seemed okay and was on its way. Another young man called me con- cerned about two baby opossums he had found. Again here was a person who saw a problem and wanted to help. He lives in one of our larger villages and to his amazement he saw a mother opos- sum dragging herself along the street. There were two babies nearby. Appar- ently a dog had gotten hold of her, pos- sibly killing the other young for they usually have more than two. The dog had done a pretty good job on the mother. She had a huge gash in her side. Mother Couldn't Be Found Seeing the predicament the man res- cued the young and called me. Together we tried to locate the mother because it's always better to let the mother have her young if she's out of danger. We couldn't find her but saw signs of blood on the sidewalk and surmised that per- haps she crawled away to die or the ma- Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh YOUNG OPOSSUM - -When first born baby opossums are the size of bees and live in their mother's pouch much like the young of a kangaroo. Later they grow too big and often cling to the mother's back when she is foraging for food. rauding dog might have come back and taken her in the interim. At least the young man had saved the two young opossums. I located a licensed rehabili- tator and turned them over to him. The last I heard they were doing well. When old enough to take care of themselves, they'll be set free. A lady called late one evening to say she had rescued some baby ducks. I al- ways caution people that the best thing to do with baby birds of any kind is to leave them where they are unless some imminent danger is anticipated. In this particular case there was a bit of confu- sion. Time had elapsed between finding the ducks and calling me so there was no point in returning to the scene. I would have left them in the general area but it was night and a big body of wa- ter. I'm not sure they would have sur- vived. We brought them home to raise until they can fly and be on their own. I want to repeat that nine times out of 10 the best thing to do with baby birds or animals is to leave them so that the Kafrena's Hair Care FOR MEN AND WOMEN Youngs Avenue, Southold 765 -1120 Full- Service Salon Paula, Kathleen and Maureen parent can return when things have qui- eted down. There's a real risk in trying to raise baby birds or animals. In the case of the yellow warbler, a passing car could have finished the stunned bird. It was right that the man rescued it. In the case of the baby opos- sum, marauding dogs usually don't leave the scene of attack without mak- ing sure everything has been done in. So here again was justification in rescuing the opossums. As for the baby ducks, the lady had done what she thought best. Objects of Concern It's not just warblers and opossums that people are concerned about. One man called about salamanders living in his cellar. He didn't mind them but he had to move some cement blocks stored in the corner and didn't want to hurt them. Again, what to do? I suggested a vernal pond nearby, one that didn't have fish in it for the simple reason that fish would perhaps eat the salamanders. For sure they'd eat the young when they hatched out in the water. It was good to hear these lowly creatures had a friend even though most people might take an exception to being friendly with sala- manders. Our last call was from a caring lady who said a robin had fallen into a pail of oil. What should she do? Again I sug- gested she call for professional help and I gave her the name of a person experi- enced in removing oil from birds. The spring brings forth new and exciting life. Most of the time the natural world can take care of itself, if given a chance. It is a joy to see young rabbits, opossums, deer, birds, etc. but remember let's see them and enjoy them. Let's not take them home and think we can do a better job of raising them than the parents. Let the natural world take care of its young and you and I enjoy this bountiful time when the world around us is replenishing itself with life.