Northwest

Feeding wildlife too risky

Many people live on the Northwest side to escape the urbanization of Tucson and dwell closer to nature. It's not unusual to see cottontails nibbling foliage in one's yard or hear the yip of the coyotes at night. But when residents move from admiring the desert dwellers to feeding them, it could be hazardous to both humans and animals. "Every year we get anywhere from 15 to 20 or more reports of people who get bitten by javelina while trying to feed them," said Elisabeth Lawaczeck, public-health veterinarian with the Arizona Department of Health Services. Though rabies in Arizona is seen primarily in bats, skunks and foxes, in the past five years two javelina in the Globe-Miami area have tested positive for rabies. They were infected, Lawaczeck said, by rabid foxes. So far this year in Pima County, 35 skunks and one raccoon have tested positive for rabies. Once a wild animal bites a person, the only way to determine if it carries the rabies virus is to euthanize it and examine its brain. Feeding wild animals and risking being bitten could result in a case of "loving an animal to death," Lawaczeck said. Wildlife proponents are so concerned about the risks posed by human-animal contact, a bill was introduced in the Legislature that would have made feeding wildlife - other than birds - a misdemeanor. In February, however, the bill was killed in the Natural Resources Committee. Sen. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Tucson, was one of the bill's sponsors. "The serious threat of interacting with wildlife really came to all of our attention last year with the mountain-lion issue," she said. "I happen to be a third-generation Tucsonan, and I grew up in the Tanque Verde area. We have a lot of wildlife tracking through our front yard, whether it's deer or javelina. "As more and more people move to remote areas that have been inhabited by wildlife, there will be increased interaction. I think that's why people love our state - we have some extraordinary wildlife," Giffords said. However, "these are wild animals, not pets. They should not be domesticated. We should not try to domesticate them." Attracting large predators may not be people's intention when they put out food for the wildlife, just a side effect, Giffords said. "Particularly with winter visitors who come here or retirees who are from other parts of the country and are not accustomed to seeing wildlife, they think it's nice to put out food for the bunnies and birds. But this becomes a buffet line for large predators." Elissa Ostergaard concurs. She is an urban wildlife specialist with the Arizona Game & Fish Department in Tucson. Animals are attracted not only to the food thrown out for them, but also to pet dishes - and pets, as well as bird feed and quail blocks, garbage, compost piles, backyard gardens, rose bushes and exotic plants, and water sources. "You get the animals you want, like the birds and the bunny and the quail, but then you're probably also going to be getting some rodents which will attract the rattlesnakes and some beneficial snakes, too, some harmless snakes - gopher, king. Then you're going to be attracting javelina feeding off the birdseed and quail blocks, coyotes feeding off the pet dishes." Outdoor food and water sources might also attract coyotes and bobcats that may snatch small wildlife and pets from yards. At the top of the food chain is the mountain lion, which will come after javelina and deer. If an animal becomes a nuisance as a result of feeding and has to be removed from the area, "that usually means death to the animal either because it can't survive outside of its range or because it has to be euthanized," she said. "That's the last thing someone who is feeding wildlife wants to happen." However, some rural residents believe they are helping wildlife by providing food and water. In cases when animals' habitat has been bisected by a busy roadway, making it dangerous for them to cross in search of food, or when their natural habitat has been destroyed by development, residents like the Northwest Side's Brad Bradley feel justified in providing for wildlife. "I don't feed the animals, but I don't discourage them from coming around," said Bradley. His property is certified as a Wildlife Backyard Habitat by the National Wildlife Foundation, and attracts rabbits, javelina and occasionally coyotes and bobcats. "I want to attract animals. That's one of the reasons I moved out here 25 years ago." For a property to be certified, it must have a natural food source, a water supply, dense brush and rocks to protect wildlife from the weather and predators, habitats suitable for animals to raise their young and a sustainable landscape. Bradley said he doesn't feed the javelina, though. "There's no question that people are feeding them in my area, because they run right up to you and start begging," he said. "The young ones, they'll come up to you 3 feet away and their nose is wrinkling and they want a treat." Even so, he doesn't think lawmakers should tell residents how to co-exist with wildlife on private property. "I would hope the legislators have more important business than worrying about whether I occasionally throw a 2-pound porterhouse steak in the back yard. What is the difference between that and a bobcat grabbing one of my (wild) rabbits or a coyote grabbing one of my rabbits?" Even though Bradley makes his yard hospitable for wildlife, he keeps his distance. People looking for a more up-close experience are the ones getting hurt, said Game & Fish field supervisor Hans Koenig. "People want to have a wildlife experience where they get close to animals to hold them or handle them," he said. "People see javelina and because they look humorous and hilarious, they want to attract them to their property. They have this living wildlife show in their back yard." "We had a lot of attacks on small dogs last year in Oro Valley. The main culprits were bobcats," Koenig said. "People really enjoy seeing wildlife, but they don't understand the result of artificial feeding." Dana Yost, executive staff assistant for Arizona Game & Fish in Phoenix, said feeding wildlife is "a complex issue, and probably a lot of people don't understand the issue. The problem with feeding wildlife - it really puts wildlife in a position that it's interacting with people where it will be dangerous to the people and dangerous to the animals." In addition, he said, "whenever you congregate animals in an area for artificial feeding you can cause disease to be spread where it wouldn't be spread in the wild." Habituating animals to human beings can also result in the death of the animal. "We have a saying around here that a fed bear is a dead bear," Yost said. "Once you feed an animal and it loses its fear of humans, that's when people get hurt. Feeding an animal oftentimes results in a real negative thing for that animal, whether it's disease issues or the animal being killed by someone at some time." Added Koenig: "We receive many calls each year from homeowners and homeowner associations who complain about residents who are intentionally feeding wildlife." But without a law prohibiting it, he said, all Game & Fish employees can do is educate the residents about the dangers of feeding wildlife.