Natural History Wanderings

from the National Park Service

Wild animals are well-adept at foraging for food. When humans start interacting with wild animals and providing them with food, we not only desensitize these animals to fear of humans (many who aren’t friendly to them) but they also become dependent upon humans for that food, forgoing foraging or hunting in the process.
Access to human food also creates many types of health problems for wild animals since our high-calorie food doesn’t contain the right nutrition they need. It alters hibernating and torpor habits in animals, so they stay awake later and wake sooner, when their natural food sources aren’t available and humans aren’t around (and neither is their food). Animals eating a human-food diet have also been shown to have shorter lifespans by several years.
So as cute as that chipmunk or deer is, please help protect it by not feeding it and enjoy viewing its beauty from a safe distance. Keep wild animals wild.

NPS Photo/Cate Blanch