Orphaned baby mice! help!!

[Eric 2016]

I’m glad that there’s a few poeple with some sense on here, mice or any wild animals should not be raised by people. Most of the time these “orphans” are simply young animals that are found when their mothers are looking for food, it doesn’t mean they need someone to take them home. If it’s a very young animal you are depleting it of colostrum which will probably make it’s chances of survival low,there are also diseases including rabies, and then there’s the leagal issues. Leave wild animals in the wild, they are not “orphans”

 

[FishMtFarm]

I say do what you want. You wanna save them, then try. I personally wouldn't but I definately wouldn't stop someone else from. You do what makes you happy. Mice carry nasty diseases and so do people. Mice are gross and can be filthy, so can people. Get the point? If it makes you happy to save those little babies then you do it!

 

[FishMtFarm]

Did I mention chickens carry some pretty nasty stuff too? But I still have them along with a lot of people here...Just sayin.

 

[cassie]

I doubt there would be a big problem with anyone pursuing the legalities with mice, but what you are talking about...yes, it is a personal decision to foster a wild animal, but it is also a decision that could be a matter of law.

Probably. Shouldn't admit it, but that has never been very high on my list of concerns. In the case of the baby birds, the licensed rehab knew I had them. They were overwhelmed and were glad someone else could raise them. The game warden knew I had the fawn and he also knew why the fawn was orphaned. We had a neighbor who fed his large family on deer meat. In my case, as for the skunks foxes, mice, squirrels, etc. it would be iffy if I could be prosecuted even if some misguided official decided to do so. I lived in the middle of the animals' natural habitat, they were not confined, and when it was time for them to be released for the most part all they had to do was go outside. I did keep the wood rat for a pet (might be illegal) and I had a pet magpie for many years (definitely illegal). I just told everybody he was a California Mynah Bird.

A person has to do what they think is right. In my case I will not turn my back on any creature.

 

[Birdinhand]

...and lets face it, farmers plow and harvest from fields and kill lots of critters. when I was a kid, many critters were rescued after getting beaten up by the combines and tractors. I just don't see harm in taking a few in here and there. most recently my niece could not find a shelter to take the injured raccoon baby. never did they bring up the legality of her caring for it, they gave her some basic instructions and sent her on her way.

 

[cassie]

Just a comment. Just because an orphan is raised by humans it does not mean it is going to be tame. My wild birds certainly weren't. As for learning survival skills, it depends on the species. When it is time for baby mice to leave the nest, they just leave. Their mothers do not teach them to survive. At least that is what I observed in the mice that lived in my husband's shop. There wasn't anything the mice could hurt in there so we left them alone. Never saw any babies trailing behind their mothers as she showed them the ropes. That just didn't happen. One day they were there in the nest, the next day they weren't. Sometimes you would see them leaving. A few would make a few false starts before they left for good.

 

[Birdinhand]

Just a comment. Just because an orphan is raised by humans it does not mean it is going to be tame. My wild birds certainly weren't. As for learning survival skills, it depends on the species. When it is time for baby mice to leave the nest, they just leave. Their mothers do not teach them to survive. At least that is what I observed in the mice that lived in my husband's shop. There wasn't anything the mice could hurt in there so we left them alone. Never saw any babies trailing behind their mothers as she showed them the ropes. That just didn't happen. One day they were there in the nest, the next day they weren't. Sometimes you would see them leaving. A few would make a few false starts before they left for good.

I had a similar experience with a northern Cardinal, probably my only true rehab as a child. I began placing it outside and calling it in for food and eventually it just took off and I thought I'd never see it again. the next spring, there was a female cardinal trying to get into my room through the window, right where I used to have the bird perch. it had regained it's wild fears and looked quite well. I'm sure it was the same bird, it hung out in the eve repeatedly and then finally gave up.

 

[cassie]

I’m glad that there’s a few poeple with some sense on here, mice or any wild animals should not be raised by people. Most of the time these “orphans” are simply young animals that are found when their mothers are looking for food, it doesn’t mean they need someone to take them home. If it’s a very young animal you are depleting it of colostrum which will probably make it’s chances of survival low,there are also diseases including rabies, and then there’s the leagal issues. Leave wild animals in the wild, they are not “orphans”

They are orphans if their mothers are dead. As for colostrum, unless your orphan is a newborn it has already had its colostrum. The chances of getting rabies from a small baby are nil. And as far as legal issues, the authorities have bigger fish to fry. If you find a fawn all alone huddled under a bush, it's mother is out foraging and will be back. If you find a very young fawn running around screaming chances are something has happened to her. At least that is what the game warden told me. If you find babies alongside a dead mother lying in the road, those babies are definitely orphans.

 

[Birdinhand]

Fear is not a substitute for legitimate information. I want to put some perspective on the risk of disease from rodents, in part because we have 4 pet rats and have our share of wild rodents that are ever hopeful of finding a way into our coop. our children come in contact with shared surfaces where rodent residue is surely present, so putting some numbers to this is of interest to me. I thought I'd share what I found so far:

https://www.elsevier.com/connect/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-rabies-but-should

"Low-risk animals for transmitting rabies include rabbits, opossums and armadillos, plus mice, rats, squirrels, nutria, shrews, prairie dogs, beavers, gophers, and other rodents (if they are caged-raised animals, they are considered very low risk). "

"In the US, most human deaths are due to exposure to rabid bats".

http://mouseranch.com/FYI/hantavirus.shtml

hanta virus risk due to exposure to wild mice:

"Most cases of the disease have been reported in the dry climate of the Four Corners region of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona."

"according to the US Census Bureau there are over 130 million housing units in the country with an average occupancy of 2.3 people each. If 1% of those houses are shared with uninvited deer mice, living in close proximity to the human occupants, that would potentially expose about 3 million people to hantavirus. Yet the number of reported cases is still only 44 per year. That is less than the chance of being struck by lightning, but greater than the chance of being involved in a shark attack."

 

[Bunnylady]

That is less than the chance of being struck by lightning, but greater than the chance of being involved in a shark attack."

Interesting phrasing . . . my horses have been within 100 feet of a lightning strike 3 times in the last 5 years, and there has been at least one shark bite incident every year since about 2000 here in North Carolina.

And I know a kid who had to get rabies shots because she handled a rabid bat.