MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • November 1, 2020
When you remove the “wild” from wildlife, those animals shouldn’t be released into the wild for a few reasons. Here’s why: First, any animal that is domesticated, or even just habituated to humans, probably doesn’t have the skills (typically learned from a natural parent) or abilities to survive in the wild. The environment a pet is being released into is another huge factor against its survival. Not only do the animals lack the survival instincts they’d have fine-tuned growing up in the wild, they may lack physical adaptations needed to survive in a new environment, especially in Maine’s climate. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox