Canyons : Warden Warns Against Feeding Wild Animals

The temptation to put out food for wild animals, especially in the new Orange County neighborhoods in south county cities that are spreading into the backcountry hills and canyons, may be strong, but it can lead to problems.

Gary Campbell, a warden for the state Department of Fish and Game, points out what happened after a well-meaning woman in Pine Cove, near Idyllwild in Riverside County, began feeding table scraps to a couple of raccoons.

“Before long,” Campbell said, “she had as many as 30 of the creatures visiting her backyard every day for free meals.”

And that’s not all.

It didn’t take long for a number of coyotes to recognize a ready food source in the concentration of raccoons, so they made a habit of gathering around, too.

The presence of the coyotes attracted a mountain lion.

“Eventually, the mountain lion became bold enough to try making meals of neighborhood pets and caused no small amount of discomfort for residents before the whole thing got straightened out by cutting off the handouts to the raccoons,” Campbell said.

But even then, a worrisome question remained.

“What is to become of those raccoons once the kind-hearted handouts are no longer available? Will they have lost their ability to forage for themselves?” the warden asked.

“The long and short of it is,” he added, “leave the animals to their own natural ways and we’ll all be happier.”