This fledgling barred owl is making his opinion very clear, and honestly, that’s exactly what we want to see. 🦉

We work hard to minimize stress and keep our interactions brief and quiet, but a young owl reacting defensively to us is actually reassuring. Fear of people is an important survival skill for wildlife.

When birds come into rehabilitation at a very young age, there’s always a risk of habituation or even imprinting. Habituation happens when wild animals become too comfortable around humans after repeated exposure. Imprinting is even more serious, where a young animal begins to identify humans as its own species.

That may sound harmless or even “special” to people, but for a wild animal, it can be dangerous. An owl that approaches humans after release may lose the caution it needs to survive. Some people may think it’s amazing to have an owl land nearby, but others may see a fearless owl as threatening or aggressive and react out of fear. Habituated wildlife are also more likely to approach roads, homes, pets, or unsafe situations that truly wild animals would normally avoid.

One of the most important parts of wildlife rehabilitation is making sure these animals stay wild enough to survive once they leave us. ... See MoreSee Less

We get it - watching wildlife up close is magical. When a fox visits your yard every evening or raccoons waddle up to the porch, it can feel like you're forming a special bond. We hear from so many kind people who leave out food because they truly want to help.

📣 But here’s the hard truth: feeding wildlife, even when meant as an act of kindness, can unintentionally cause harm.

It causes wild animals to gather in unnaturally high numbers, which ramps up the risk of disease, especially mange. Mange is caused by microscopic mites and spreads through contact, so when multiple animals crowd around the same easy food source, it becomes an outbreak waiting to happen.

Add monumental habitat loss from Nashville’s rapid development into the mix, and animals squeezed into smaller ranges are even more likely to gather around these food hotspots, which means faster disease spread, more conflicts, and more animals needing rehabilitation.

Red foxes have adapted surprisingly well to the urban world we've forced them into, but mange remains one of their biggest challenges. Every summer, we become absolutely overwhelmed with mange cases. While we’re always here to help, treating one fox at a time isn’t enough. To truly make a difference, we have to address the root of the problem, which means looking at how human actions, like feeding wildlife or using rodenticides, are fueling the spread.

We know your heart is in the right place, but if you truly want to help, please don’t leave food out, keep trash and pet food secured, and do not use rodenticides. Loving wildlife means doing what’s best for them, which is often just admiring them from a distance. 🧡 ... See MoreSee Less