What should I do if I find an orphaned baby wild New Orleans animal wandering about?

While babies are cute and baby orphaned New Orleans animals may attract one’s sympathies, it is extremely important not to give in to the temptation to touch a baby animal. Some sources claim that the scent of humans left on a baby animal will cause the animal’s parents—if they are still alive—to abandon the baby. Other sources will tell you that this isn’t entirely true and may have been a lie devised to keep people from disturbing the environment.



A baby Louisiana bird on the ground, for instance, may not actually be orphaned. Its parents may be nearby, watching while it learns how to fly, and human intervention may be perceived as a threat to the parents that causes them to relocate and thus abandon the chick. Baby rabbits will rarely leave their nests, but their mothers will be gone all day to gather food, leaving the babies unattended for hours at a time. All this is to say that one can never be certain if an animal is orphaned or merely learning how to grow up. The best course of action to take is to leave it alone.

However, circumstances do arise in which leaving the wild New Orleans animal in question alone is not an option. If you’ve found a baby animal outside in a location in which it is stuck (i.e. a bucket or hole with steep sides) you can wear a long sleeve shirt, a facemask, and scratch/bite proof gloves to free the animal. Once you free it, let it be. If you’re not sure what to do or how to go about this without harming the animal or yourself, call an animal control professional.

If you’ve discovered a nest in or around your house, you’ve probably taken the necessary precautions to seal the entry and exit points and have waited for the animal nesting in your house to vacate. In the case of an opossum, their marsupial and nocturnal nature usually means that the mother will take her babies with her on her nightly excursions and you can block off any entry points after she’s left by waiting a couple hours after dark. In the case of mice or rats, extermination usually entails sealing entry and exit points that result in the animals being trapped and dying of starvation within your walls. These rodents are better left to be dealt with by animal care professionals.

If you have found other baby Louisiana animals in or around your home, and are not sure what to do with them, call an animal control professional.

Visit our New Orleans animal removal home page to learn more about us.