Nature & Environment

With weather warming up, it's time for gardeners to enjoy the season. To get gardeners primed for their planting, the Bay Village Green Team hosted a sustainable gardening event at the Bay Community Garden, located on the corner of Wolf and Forestview roads, on May 18. 

The Spring Green Garden Show, a family-friendly event promoting organic gardening and other green home and yard ideas, had displays from local organizations and businesses focusing on organic lawn and garden care, sustainable landscape design and organic gardening products.

It's that time of year when many of us are beginning to fertilize our lawns and gardens. What many of us don't think about is how that practice is tied to a yearly water quality issue in Lake Erie. The problem can be seen just a mile off the shores of Bay Village in satellite images.

Last year was one of the worst years on record for a water quality issue resulting from human-induced algal blooms. These blooms, in turn, result in a problem known as the Lake Erie dead zone. This is a zone of oxygen-depleted water that has grown to cover as much as half of our lake.

Many aquatic organisms, including fish and insects, cannot live in this oxygen-depleted zone. Therefore, it disrupts the web of life that helps keep our aquatic ecosystem healthy. Furthermore, some species of algae contain neurotoxins that reach high enough concentrations during some blooms to have a severe impact on wildlife and to close area beaches.

The Westlake Garden Club planted a tree in front of Westlake Porter Public Library on April 29 in celebration of Arbor Day. The group has planted trees around the city every year for over 20 years.

PICTURED: Westlake Garden Club members Ruth Bertrand, Margaret Schulz, Sally Knurek, Kathy Molnar and Maryann Brock, along with Porter Library Director Andrew Mangles and Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough, listen as Stan Barnard, Westlake's Urban Forestry/Safety Manager, describes the species of tree the club planted.

A beautiful American White Pelican, one of the largest birds in North America, is showing improvement in Lake Erie Nature & Science Center’s Wildlife Education & Rehabilitation Program. This unusual patient, rarely seen in Northeast Ohio, was rescued from the Cuyahoga River on Jan. 19 with a left wing injury.

Center Wildlife Rehabilitation Coordinator Amy LeMonds says an X-ray and veterinary exam revealed no fracture to the wing, so the bird has been treated for soft tissue injury. LeMonds reports that the pelican is doing well after a month of rehabilitation that also included treatment for dehydration and intestinal parasites. In fact, the big bird has gained almost three pounds as it consumes nearly four pounds of fish each day!

This summer with its record number of 90-plus degree days, the Bay Village Sea Scouts have sought ways to minimize the toxic blue-green algae which cause Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs) to form in Lake Erie. If you are a boater or enjoy swimming in the lake, you have probably seen the dirty scum that appears on the surface of the water, particularly after a storm. Factors that contribute to HABs include: excess phosphorus from fertilizer, animal waste, warm temperatures and sunlight. 

One of the reasons that the HAB problem has escalated is because the severity of rainstorms has increased over the last few decades, according to a recently released report by Environment America Research and Policy Center. For example, on July 27, 2012, Bay Village had 1.2 inches of rain in just 15 minutes. With a light rain, fertilizer will soak into the ground, but with a heavy downpour, fertilizer is flushed off of lawns and eventually reaches Lake Erie in storm water runoff through the sewers and creeks.

If you happened to be around Bay Lodge on Saturday, May 26, an enjoyable family event was underway. It was the very popular annual Rib Burn-off sponsored by the Bay Skate and Bike Park (BSBP) to raise money for their foundation, and this year saw a record turnout of over 200 people. The sound of music from Hypnotic Dog was gently floating through the air while youngsters competed at corn hole and twelve rib teams cooked ribs, each with a unique recipe, to the delight of the crowd and the judges.

This year there was a new twist – compost containers were set up in two recycle stations to capture the paper plates and food leftovers once the dinner was over.

According to Lawrence Kuh, executive director of the Bay Skate and Bike Park Foundation, being “near zero waste” is an important part of this event. “I am excited and honored to be part of this. We want to do what we can to make this community great and have the smallest carbon footprint in the process.”

Members of the Bay Village Green Team’s communications committee have created an interactive flash video to educate residents on the new recycling and compost program. The piece was produced as a public service announcement (PSA) to promote recycling in Bay Village and funded by a grant from the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District. Watch the video at bayvillagegreenteam.com (click on Curbside Recycling and wait for the video to load).

New Program Doubles Recycling Rate

A new program to expand recycle and compost capabilities was introduced in Bay Village in the first half of 2011. The program was made available through Republic Services, the city’s recycle and refuse hauler. The benefits of the program are already being seen in the recycle and landfill statistics. The expansion of the curbside collection services include:

• You can now recycle all of your paper and cardboard curbside. You can still recycle your bottles, cans, and plastics No. 1 and No. 2 curbside.
• Yard waste is also being diverted from the landfill and taken in a separate truck to a compost facility. (The yard waste must be in brown yard waste bags or in separate containers marked “Yard Waste.”)

As a result of the new program, the amount of waste being landfilled declined by a whopping 27% when you compare the three months ending Sept. 30, 2011, to the same period in 2010. The curbside recycling more than doubled, and the remaining reduction of landfill waste is attributed to yard waste that is now being composted. This is a very significant decrease in the amount of waste being landfilled and Bay residents are to be commended for their quick adoption of the new program.

Build a rain barrel to take home at a rain barrel workshop on Wed., April 27

There is no doubt that storm water run-off is increasing as development expands and the pervious surfaces (like meadows and forests) that soak up the water naturally are disappearing. There are things that a homeowner can do to reduce the storm water run-off on his/her property and utilize the rain water in a beneficial manner, including installing a rain barrel.

According to Amy Roskilly of the Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District, a rain barrel is a container used to collect and store rainwater that would otherwise be lost to run-off and likely diverted to a storm drain. Collected water may then be used to water lawns and gardens.

According to a recent report by the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, Bay Village's residential recycling rate was 57 percent in 2011, up from 47 percent in 2010!

In May 2011, Bay Village introduced a new recycle and compost program through Republic Services with expanded capabilities. In the year ended June 2012, Republic Services reported that landfill trash was down 37 percent, or 2,850 tons, when compared to the year ended June 2011.

Here are some of the highlights of the new program:

Bay now has what is known as “Single Stream Recycling” where all types of paper, bottles, cans and cardboard can be placed in one bin.

With Earth Day just around the corner on April 22, many of us are thinking about easy ways to help the environment. As most of you may know, Bay Village residents can get discounts and deals simply from participating in the Recyclebank rewards program through your home recycling.

Since the Recyclebank program launched last May, Bay Village residents have recycled over 471 tons of material. That’s equivalent to 3,017 newborn Orca whales or 710 SMART cars! Great job!

Additionally, Bay residents have earned over one-million Recyclebank points translating into thousands of dollars saved. On average, each resident can earn over $100 in reward value through their annual recycling efforts. These savings have also helped boost the local economy because nearly 50% of the rewards are redeemed locally right here in Bay Village at locations such as Bay Lanes, Discount Drug Mart, Wild Birds Unlimited and Bay Village True Value Hardware.

Have you ever wondered what the night sky really looks like without the light pollution that blocks out the stars for those of us who live near Cleveland? You’re invited to come along and find out as Lake Erie Nature & Science Center joins in the Grand Opening festivities at Observatory Park in Geauga County. Come experience the universe like you've never seen it before!

Part of the Geauga Park District, Observatory Park is an area that has long been recognized by astronomers as one of the few regions left in Northeast Ohio that has not yet been affected by artificial light pollution. Provisionally certified as one of only five "Dark Sky Parks" in the U.S., guests at Observatory Park will be treated to a stunning view of exceptionally starry skies.

Observatory Park has planned a great day chock-full of fun, free activities for the whole family to celebrate their Grand Opening on Saturday, August 20. The festivities kick off at 4 p.m. and will include a family concert under the stars, a hot dog dinner, stargazing and more!

To help clean up our waterfront, a group of 20 high school youth and adult leaders, members of Sea Scout Ship 41, are working with local marinas to improve their used oil recycling stations. The scouts are participating in the Waterfront Challenge, an international initiative sponsored by Interlux, a worldwide manufacturer of yacht paints, aimed at encouraging people to “make a difference” by improving the quality of their local waterfronts.

The scouts have found that marinas tend to locate their used oil recycling stations behind their maintenance sheds – out of sight, out of mind – but one improperly-disposed-of used oil filter could contaminate 62,000 gallons of drinking water. The EPA requires that a used oil filter be “hot” drained at engine operating temperature for a minimum of 12 hours before being disposed of as regular trash.

If you enjoy fresh produce, want to learn how to garden or want to help those in need, the Bay Village Community Garden has something for you. Community garden participants range from scout troops learning to grow vegetables and herbs to families who harvest the greens from their plot for the evening dinner table. And there are churches and community groups that use the plots to grow fresh produce for those in need.  

The Bay Village Community Garden opened in May 2010 at the corner of Forestview and Wolf roads, and in no time, eighty plots were quickly in use. The garden was envisioned by Green Team member, Bob Shields, who has a master's degree in botany and has been involved in gardening since his scouting days. He expects that all 130 plots available will be rented out or put to use by service organizations this year.

Our lives were touched by a monarch butterfly during this season’s migration. You may have noticed that the skies and trees were full of monarchs in early September. This was an especially big migration, and the sight was breathtaking. They came through northeastern Ohio on their annual migration path from Canada to Mexico, where they winter until the cycle begins again.

One little guy, who managed to lose part of his wings and one antenna, was carried home by my eight-year-old daughter. She refused to believe that he would die shortly of his injuries and lovingly placed him on a branch of a tree in our Bay Village backyard, which we had taken to calling the butterfly tree because of the hundreds of monarchs alighting and drinking nectar there. When I first saw him I winced at his state but told my daughter that it was very kind of her to give him such a nice place to recover.

On Tuesday, Aug. 14, the Bay Village Sea Scouts made a presentation to the Bay Village Green Team on their Interlux Waterfront Challenge project combating toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie. Sea Scout Jack Rodman explained that the sea scouts planted Blue Flag iris along the shoreline at the Spitzer Marina to help absorb phosphorus (a contributing cause in the growth of blue green algae) and nitrogen (a chemical that causes hypoxia). 

The Sea Scouts have also planted Blue Flag Iris along the creek at Bay Presbyterian Church; and Mayor Deborah Sutherland has given permission to plant Blue Flag Iris along the Cahoon Creek behind the Community House. Both creeks flow directly into Lake Erie.

Sea Scout Ship 41 of Bay Village has again taken up the Interlux Waterfront Challenge. Interlux is an international yacht paint company, a division of AkzoNobel Corporation with U.S. headquarters in Strongsville. 

This year Interlux is again offering grants of up to $20,000 for the best waterfront environmental project. The Sea Scouts have been studying the water quality of Lake Erie, in particular the toxic blue-green algae blooms. They have been looking into simple ways to help provide remedies.   

The Bay Village shoreline is a favorite spot for swimming and boating enthusiasts who believe the water safe since the Cuyahoga Dept. of Health tests Huntington Beach water quality daily. However there has been a 200 percent increase in days under advisory this year so far, over the average for the past four years.

The Bay Village Green Team celebrated Arbor Day and our Tree City USA status on Saturday, April 28, by planting over a dozen Eastern Redbud and other indigenous trees in Bay. Residents and city leaders graciously volunteered their yards for a group of Green Team members to plant a seedling tree, that granted, appears to be a twig now, but will grow into a flowering yard feature that aids in beautifying our neighborhoods, improving the diversity of our woodlands and controlling storm water runoff. 

Residents including Jerrie, Dan, Warren, Mike, Christine and Pat, along with all the council members (Scott, Clete, Karen, Dave, Dwight, Paul and Mike) and Mayor Sutherland, helped to support this initiative by allowing the Green Team to plant a seedling tree in their yard, or volunteering a neighbor that was wanting a new tree.

I am a senior at Rocky River High School and I have been in Girl Scouts for over 10 years achieving, both my Girl Scout bronze and silver awards. My next goal is to achieve the highest award a Girl Scout can get, the Gold Award. This award requires a Girl Scout to reach out into her community and create a project that will continue when she leaves.

For almost half a year I racked my brain for ideas for my project. Let me tell you, detailed projects do not come around in one night. During this time I was also in the progress of deciding my major for college. As I kept researching, I found the sustainability major, which in a nutshell, works with the environment. As time progressed, I fell in love with sustainability. I will be pursuing this major in the fall at either Baldwin Wallace University or University of Colorado-Boulder.

Numerous families took advantage of a fun-filled event at the Educator’s Market & Toy store in Westlake on Saturday, Dec. 10.  As part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Project, “A Holistic Watershed Approach to Health at Huntington Beach,” the fun fest used a book by Joel Harper called “All the Way to the Ocean” to help teach kids and adults about watershed protection.  

The Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District provided a hands-on learning game called Incredible Journey to allow kids to make a bracelet while learning about the water cycle. Lake Erie Nature & Science Center brought a variety of cuddly and interesting animals which allowed an up-close look at these fascinating creatures.

For many of us living along Lake Erie, summertime brings the promise of warm, shimmering water teeming with fish ripe for the catching. While we go out on jetties or boats and cast our lines, other creatures spread their wings and wet their beaks to catch a few fish of their own. This summer at Lake Erie Nature & Science Center, we’ve been fortunate to have several cases of fish-catching avian wildlife which were released back into the wild. While here, they taught us a few lessons about the beauty of nature and the challenges that living wild in Northeast Ohio brings.

One of the many threats posed to wildlife as an unfortunate result of human recreational activities is fishing line left behind. Several weeks ago, our rehab team received a Great Blue Heron with fishing line wrapped around its body. The heron was in poor health due to extreme stress and dehydration. The fishing line was removed and the heron was stabilized. After determining there was no serious damage, the bird was released back into the wild five days after admittance.

The Westlake Garden Club planted a Concolor Fir at the Founders’ Walk at Clague Park on April 27 in celebration of Arbor Day. For the past two decades, the garden club has planted a tree somewhere in Westlake every year on Arbor Day. 

Club member Kathy Molner coordinated the event for over 20 years and, this year, turned the reins over to Kathie Carnall. Kathie worked with the Westlake Service Department and Cahoon Nursery, who donated the tree, to determine the location and type of tree to plant.

Learn how to compost at a free seminar Sept. 14 at the Bay Community House

Watch as your yard trimmings and kitchen waste change into a rich resource – plant clippings, carrot tops, apple cores and potato skins are transformed into a great soil material that can be used to fertilize your yard or garden within 90 days or less.

Bay Village resident Laura Crabb says that her family has been composting for over seven years. Laura actually got her introduction to composting at a young age when her father was an avid composter.

Soon there will be bright and colorful signs advertising rain barrels around Bay Village. My classmates and I made them because my teacher, Mrs. Fisher, and everyone in my class (including me) is trying to help people in Bay learn about conserving water with rain barrels. 

Our Mission Statement is: To educate Bay citizens about conserving water by using rain barrels. We plan to sell rain barrels to businesses and citizens. So far we have around 12 rain barrels. We have painted them blues and greens and are going to put different designs to match your garden on them. 

The rain barrels and/or posters will be displayed at Huntington Bank, Heinen's, Georgio's, Dairy Queen, True Value Hardware, City Hall, Key Bank, PNC Bank, BAYarts, Bay Library, Lake Erie Nature and Science Center, and Java Bay. The students in my class wrote letters to those businesses requesting them to let us display posters and rain barrels. 

They sent us an email at our email address: rainbarrelrunoff@hotmail.com. Then, we went to their business to have them sign a contract. Most of them did and then it was a done deal. After we met with them and let them sign the contract, we wrote a thank you letter to them, thanking them for spending time with us.

A group of Northeast Ohio elementary school students have seen a year of hard work (and fun!) building a wildlife habitat at Lake Erie Nature & Science Center pay off with national certification. The 24 students who participate in the Center’s “After School Adventures Club” received approval from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) designating their garden project in front of the Center as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.  

The recognition goes to individuals or groups who follow specific NWF guidelines for creating a garden area that provides food, water, cover and a place for wildlife to raise their young, in addition to incorporating sustainable gardening practices. Center Executive Director Catherine Timko cut the ribbon at a recent gathering to celebrate completion of the habitat, which the students enhanced by building a rock-rimmed water feature. 

The best part of the year-long experience for 4th grader Adam Goyetche of Westlake was, “all the hikes we did collecting items and observing where animals live.” Adam said the class has already observed a nest being built high in the trees in the newly certified habitat.

The Bay Village Green Team has obtained 10 Eastern Redbud (Tennessee Pink variety) trees to plant for Bay residents. The trees are approximately three feet tall and will be provided to the first 10 Bay residents who contact Dan Krieg at 440-808-0429. The trees are free, although donations are appreciated. Any donations will be used to purchase more trees for future plantings. And, Bay Village Green Team volunteers will plant the tree for you free of charge!

Last year, residents and city leaders graciously volunteered their yards and Green Team members were able to plant over 30 seedling trees. This year, the Eastern Redbuds that are available will grow into a flowering yard feature that aids in beautifying our neighborhoods, improving the diversity of our woodlands and controlling storm water runoff. These trees are expected to leaf out over this summer. Brotzman's Nursery in Madison, Ohio, sourced the affordable Eastern Redbuds this year and offered them at cost ($16/tree) to the Green Team.

The Cuyahoga Community College Westshore Campus Health Careers and Sciences building has earned the College its second LEED Gold certification from the United States Green Building Council.

Tri-C is the first community college in Ohio to earn three LEED certifications. The Eastern Campus Health Careers and Technology building earned Gold, the second-highest level of distinction for sustainable design, in July. The Brunswick University Center earned Silver in June.

A little less than one year ago, Cleveland native and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Wayne Zimmerman visited Lake Erie Nature & Science Center to present an insider’s view of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Zimmerman, who leads development of advanced robotic arms and instruments used in the program, talked about his contributions to NASA’s various expeditions to the red planet. He then screened a preview of what, at the time, was the forthcoming launch of Curiosity, the largest and most instrument-rich Mars Science Laboratory to date.

Curiosity, a mobile robotic exploration device, or rover (imagine a sophisticated Wall-E), has been charged with a mission to determine whether Mars, the planet most like Earth, contains evidence that it was ever a habitat for life. 

Spring is a great time to look at ways to improve the management of storm water in your yard.

When rain water falls on our property, it hits the hard surfaces all around us such as roofs, lawns, sidewalks and driveways. Typically, the water drainage is set up so that it runs into storm sewers or streams that drain directly to the lake, carrying with it the residue of fertilizer and pesticides along with litter, pet waste and non-biodegradable cleaners. Recent studies indicate that up to 70 percent of all lake and stream pollution comes from residential yards.

The Bay Village Green Team is offering two workshops as part of their yearlong "Green Your Life" series to educate the community about methods for dealing with rain water in an environmentally-friendly way.

As the weather turns colder and rain clouds seems to be a constant companion, you can always be sure that the stars are shining brightly in the warm, dry, clear skies of Lake Erie Nature & Science Center's Walter R. Schuele Planetarium. Adults and children alike are invited to join us for a number of spectacular space science programs throughout the fall season.

Second Nature, our new series of programs for lifelong learners, returns on Thursday, Oct. 20, with "Meteorites and Moon Rocks." Presenter John Oldham, a passionate collector of these visitors from the stars, is also the Exhibit Specialist at NASA Glenn Research Center. He will share a few nuggets of trivia as he explains a brief history of meteors and shows off a lunar sample or two. A question and answer session with John will follow the presentation. Meteorites & Moon Rocks runs from 7-8:30 p.m. and is free to the public.

We all have items in our household that we don’t use and giving these to a charity is the answer. When we cook a meal we have food scraps we jam down the disposal or toss in our garbage can. The magical solution is to recycle those scraps into "black gold" to enrich our veggie and flower gardens. Savvy gardeners know this loamy, rich, black organic material that composting creates is priceless. Huge squash, tomatoes and gigantic flowers reward us. Composting your kitchen waste is easy.

Thanks to the efforts of Cleveland Metroparks and Maple Leaf Landscaping, the Fuller House is not the only new attraction on the BAYarts campus. As a result of the Fuller restoration project, Cleveland Metroparks saw a need for updating the campus walkways, creating accessibility in an aesthetically inviting way.

The meandering paths that lead from Huntington Playhouse to BAYarts inspired new garden spaces. Kicked off by the Village Foundation with a "Welcome Garden," naming rights have been procured by various individuals and groups through donations. Working with landscape designer Julia Shutt of Maple Leaf, who have donated their services and labor, the owners' personal input is reflected in each garden.

Make organic local food part of your healthy lifestyle by reserving a community garden plot today! The Bay Community Garden, located on Wolf Road, is now accepting applications from Bay residents for the 2012 garden season. The garden plots are 4-by-8 feet, and are rented for $40 per year. Since a technique called “Square Foot Gardening” is used, it is amazing how many vegetables and herbs can be grown on each of these plots.

The gardening is all organic. The city provides gardeners with rich humus to spread on the garden plots. The humus is leaf-based compost that is the result of the leaf pick-up program. In fall, the leaves are taken to the Westlake Service Center to be composted and returned as humus in spring to use in the gardening. The humus is a great soil amendment that is mixed into your garden to create a fertile planting bed.

The holiday season is upon us, and there are so many wonderful traditions that help us to celebrate with family and friends like entertaining, gift giving and decorating. Here are some tips to make your holiday season “greener.”

When entertaining:

Invest in an extra set of inexpensive plates. The white ones go with anything. This way you won’t need the single-use paper or plastic plates. Same goes for utensils and glasses. In the long run, you’ll save money and “green” your entertaining events.

Buy some inexpensive cloth napkins. Place them in a napkin holder, and they will look very festive around your holiday table.

Have you ever seen a beautiful garden and thought, ”I wish that was in my backyard”? If you said yes, it’s easy to start your own garden. My Junior Girl Scout troop had a special visitor that taught us about gardening.

You might have seen her HUGE garden while driving down Lake Road in Bay Village. This amazing gardener is Julia Shutt. Julia started in advertising but her love of gardening made her switch careers. She is now a well-known landscape designer for Maple Leaf Landscaping Inc.

The new program for removal of recycling and trash in Bay Village is expected to increase recycling by 30-50% or more by increasing the items to be recycled curbside and providing rewards to residents for recycling. And, the more that we recycle, the longer the current Oberlin Landfill will last, thereby delaying significant waste management cost increases. 

In April, each resident received two large containers from Allied Waste – one blue container for trash and one green container for recycling. Here is how it works:

Continue to recycle curbside: Newspaper, plastics labeled No. 1 and No. 2, glass bottles and jars and aluminum and steel cans. Containers should be rinsed, caps and neck rings removed from the bottles.

Added to curbside recycling: Mixed paper (magazines, catalogs, school papers, mail, construction paper, typing paper, pamphlets, shredded paper) and cardboard (corrugated cardboard, cereal boxes, tissue boxes, paper towel rolls).

Survey will help nonprofit center develop roadmap for the future

Lake Erie Nature & Science Center is working to cast a wide net as it conducts a year-end survey aimed at gleaning community feedback.

“We’re trying to make it as easy as possible for a wide range of voices to have input into our planning process for the coming year and beyond,” said Center Executive Director Catherine Timko. “A nonprofit organization like ours, which relies on community support to carry out our mission, should keep a finger on the pulse of the region as we plan for the future.” 

In 1945, when Dr. Elberta Fleming planted the seeds of what would become Lake Erie Nature & Science Center, she probably couldn’t foresee how far its branches would spread.

In 2011, as she snapped a photo of her daughters smiling below a spreading fir tree, Center education program specialist Maggie Watson (nee Gibbons) took a moment to reflect on the Center’s enduring legacy and how it had touched the lives of her family.

It was as a sophomore at Magnificat High School in the mid-1990s that young Maggie Gibbons first connected with the Center.

It’s been nearly 50 years since we got our first close-up look at our next-door neighbor, the planet Mars, courtesy of NASA’s Mariner 4 spacecraft.

Thanks to numerous Mars orbiters and landers, a wealth of glorious images of the Red Planet have made the 35-million-plus-mile journey back to Earth, eagerly awaited by scientists and laypeople alike who yearn for more than a birds-eye view of a truly alien world.

Lake Erie Nature & Science Center will explore NASA's robotic missions during “A Mars Odyssey,” a free lecture on Thursday, August 25 at 7 p.m.

A sure sign (or sound) of spring at Lake Erie Nature & Science Center is the constant ringing of the phone with calls about baby wildlife. The Center's Wildlife Education & Rehabilitation Program staff welcomes and encourages these calls and offers free advice in order to head off unnecessary human intervention by well-intentioned but uninformed “rescuers.” Some things to keep in mind about the wild babies you encounter in your backyard:

• Baby wildlife is rarely abandoned in nature. Wildlife mothers often leave their babies unattended for hours. Even if one parent has died, in many cases, the remaining parent can ably take care of the babies.

• Baby wild animals DO NOT need to be protected from the natural dangers in their lives. Cats and dogs, cars, streets and parking lots are all a natural part of the life of an urban/suburban wild animal. They NEED to grow up among these things in order to learn how to successfully co-exist with them.