This story was originally published by East Idaho News.
Idaho Fish and Game is reminding the public of the importance of not touching wildlife after an incident earlier this month.
In early June, Josh Anderson of Menan and his wife went fishing, and they saw a baby moose out on the gravel bar.
“We came back two hours later and it was still out there crying for its mom. We took pictures of it and kept fishing until after dark,” he recalled. “Then, it had been about three hours, and so we went back up, and it was still out there crying for its mom.”
Anderson said they “pulled up and parked,” and the minute he parked on the gravel bar, the baby moose came right up to him and started licking him and sucking on his jacket.
He said they were worried the mom hadn’t been there for three hours.
“We thought, ‘Well, we could take it, and we knew some people that could bottle feed it some goat’s milk,” Anderson stated. “We picked it up and we took it to them, worried that it was going to be eaten by coyotes.”
Anderson explained that the baby moose was bottle-fed that night, and the next morning, as soon as the Idaho Fish and Game office opened, he called them. He said he let them know what had happened and that he had picked the animal up.
“That’s when they told us it was super irresponsible to do that, even if its mom wasn’t there,” Anderson recalled. “The Fish and Game took it back to where we had picked it up and dropped it off in the exact spot the next day that we picked it up.”
Anderson said he was told by Idaho Fish and Game that the public should never pick up wild animals.
“We’ve learned that that’s not something you should do and you should never touch them,” Anderson said.
James Brower, regional communications manager at Idaho Fish and Game, echoed that.
“Look, but don’t touch. Leave baby animals alone,” he emphasized. “In most cases, mom is not far away. It’s not uncommon for a wildlife mother to leave their young unattended for several hours at a time while they feed or draw away predators. Often she is just out of sight and will return when she feels it is safe.”
Brower said that “mother knows best in the animal kingdom” and giving her a chance to return is a baby animal’s best chance of survival.
“If you notice something concerning, take a GPS point and give the Idaho Fish and Game offices a call,” Brower added.
For more information on the importance of looking and not touching wildlife, click here.
