Dear Eric: A friend of mine is a lovely woman and a real animal lover. The problem is that she lives near some woods and feeds the wild animals that come to her yard. I’m not talking about just putting out a bird feeder; she feeds opossums, raccoons, deer, and other creatures, and gets a lot of pleasure out of doing so. It is not recommended that anyone feed wild animals in this way. It is bad for the animals and for you, for lots of reasons.
This week a black bear came up to her back door, putting herself and her neighbors at risk. (She thought it was cute.) What can I say to discourage her from doing this? She absolutely considers herself a saint for “helping out God’s creatures,” and she is not receptive to contrary suggestions.
—Also an Animal Lover, But…
Dear Animal Lover: Opossums, and raccoons and bears?! Oh my. You’re correct that feeding wild animals is potentially quite dangerous for them and for your friend. The Department of Agriculture is quite clear on this. Wild animals have specialized diets and can die if they’re fed the wrong foods. Wild animals who grow too accustomed to people are at risk of becoming too aggressive, resulting in injury to others, or too comfortable around moving vehicles, resulting in their own injury. In short, unless your friend is an expert on wildlife, she’s not doing them the service she might think she is.
You can direct her to the Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services (https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife-services), where they don’t mince words about why this isn’t a wise idea and give suggestions for ways of better living in harmony with wild animals.
But if she’s not receptive to contrary suggestions, chances are she’s already heard what experts say and has decided to do what she wants anyway. This makes me sad for her and for the animals. It’s best to enjoy viewing wildlife from a distance, so that they can stay wild and stay safe.
(Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at [email protected] or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.)
©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
