Latest news with #SweetbriarNatureCenter
CBS News
2 days ago
- General
- CBS News
What to do if you see a deer fawn alone? Experts say don't touch or disturb it
Experts are warning people not to interfere with fawns they may be seeing around. Well-intentioned people may be doing more harm then good, they say. It comes as fawn season is here, when deer give birth. Their spotted offspring can be found on trails, in fields, and sometimes even by the sides of homes. Outdoor educator Jerry Licht was surprised to find a fawn curled up on a Huntington, N.Y. soccer field. He took to social media to warn others to leave it be. "It took me a moment, and I saw it was a fawn," Licht said. "If you see this, there is not necessarily anything wrong with it. Leave it alone. Don't touch it. Don't disturb it." "People want that photo" That plea is echoed at the Sweetbriar Nature Center, where good intentions at a Suffolk County park left a 2-week-old fawn orphaned. "People want that photo. They want that video. They want those likes," Janine Bendicksen of Sweetbriar Nature Center said. "This deer was brought into the cars of the people, and they were snapping photos and doing videos of this poor fawn, and then they just left it in the parking lot thinking it would find its mother." "Fawn-napping" Just because you don't see a fawn's mother, it doesn't mean the fawn needs help. Mothers stay away on purpose for as long as 12 hours to avoid drawing predators. "Moving the fawn somewhere far away from where you found it, the mother is not going to be able to find it. And that's exactly what happened here in this case," Bendicksen said. Experts call that "fawn-napping" - moving a fawn that isn't an orphan. "They're just laying against the ground, underneath a bush, sometimes underneath people's decks. They're trying to stay just hidden as much as they possibly can," Russell Korn of Sweetbriar Nature Center. "It doesn't mean they're sick." When to call for help So when is it time to call for help? When there are warning signs, such as when a fawn is found covered in ticks. "[If] its legs are out. If you see flies around it. If you see ticks on its head, if you see it shaking, anything that shows that it might be injured or sick, that's when you would need to call a rehabber," Korn said. With deer now widespread in the suburbs, you'll be seeing more of these babes in the woods, and in the most unexpected places. Wildlife educators say social media can play a positive role, and if you're not sure what to do, message them a picture. It could mean the difference between helping and harming. The fawns being cared for at Sweetbriar will be released back to nature in the fall. Click here for more tips from them about what to do if you spot an animal you think might need help.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Up-tick? Long Island seeing more of the blood-suckers this year
Long Islanders better brace for a bloodthirsty summer. Populations of several tick species across both Nassau and Suffolk counties have exploded since the fall, experts told The Post. 'I have friends working in the state and county parks, and the talk is, 'Oh, my God, it's so bad this year!'' said Janine Bendicksen, director of wildlife rehabilitation at Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown. Bendicksen said Sweetbriar has taken in more goslings this spring than in previous years, with groups of 10 to 20 coming in at a clip. 'They were lethargic. Their feet were curling up, and they'd flip over, because they were dying,' she explained. 'All of a sudden, we saw all of these tiny black ticks coming off of them.' Sweetbriar's team realized the baby birds were anemic from the bloodsuckers. 'Goslings and ducklings never have ticks on them, because ticks tend to go for mammals,' Bendicksen said. 'That is an indication that, 'Uh-oh, it's gonna be a bad season.'' The Lone Star, American Dog, and blacklegged tick — which can transmit a bevy of illnesses such as Lyme disease, a bacterial infection that causes flu-like symptoms — have all been on the rise across Long Island, experts said. They can also spread potentially-fatal bacterial infections such as ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis, along with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Powassan virus. Several factors account for the population explosion, including weather and host animal abundance. Long Island had a rather mild winter, which can increase tick activity, said Dr. Scott Campbell, Suffolk County's entomologist. A wet spring also tend to bring out more ticks. 'There's a lot of moving parts,' said Campbell. 'There's no silver bullet, but multiple factors are playing a role.' Rodent populations are also on the rise — potentially caused by a dip in the number of predators that feed on them including owls and snakes — helping boost tick numbers. In Suffolk, there were 3,299 reported cases of Lyme disease in 2023 — up from 2,668 the year before. Only 697 cases were reported in Nassau County in 2023, while data from the prior year was not immediately available. Over 21,000 Lyme disease cases were reported statewide in 2023. And more than 89,000 U.S. cases were reported across the US in 2023, the CDC reported. Ulises Galdamez, 36, owner of Long Island Tick Sprays in Hampton Bays, told The Post this is the first season since launching his business in 2016 that his phone started ringing in early March. 'Normally, April is when we get people reaching out to us,' he explained. 'This year's going to be bad, because we've definitely had more people calling us this year than any other year before. We've been going nonstop — it's shaping up to be our busiest season so far.' Bendicksen suggested wearing 'socks on the outside of your pants' to keep the critters off exposed skin. Keeping rodents and larger mammals away with fences and other measures is also important she said. And keep a lint roller handy — they're excellent for removing ticks, she added.
