04/29/2026
It's almost a repeat of what I preach! ❤️
One of the phrases that I hate the most.
“Let nature take its course.”
If there ever was an absolutely asinine, passive, responsibility-shirking phrase, this would be it.
99% of the injured and orphaned wildlife that we take in as wildlife rehabilitators are not due to “natural causes.”
Most are a direct response to human overdevelopment, encroachment on natural habitats, irresponsible ignorance pertaining to the patterns of native wildlife, pets being loose and catching unsuspecting victims, poisoning, vehicular strikes, irresponsible tree trimming, inadvertent kidnappings (specifically pertaining to white-tailed deer fawns), and the list goes on.
In and of itself, apart from human interference, nature does a pretty good job of regulating itself.
If squirrels become over-abundant in one area, hawks will move in and hunt them. If a rat colony takes up residence in a chicken coop and their population booms, a rat snake will soon become privy to the situation.
But that balance falls apart when the scales are tipped by us.
When an opossum is hit by a car, that’s not “nature taking its course.”
When a litter of raccoon kits is pulled from an attic during baby season and discarded without a second thought, that’s not nature " taking its course".
When a fledgling songbird is snatched by an outdoor cat, or a nest is shredded by a landscaping crew who didn’t bother to check, or a turtle is crushed trying to cross a road we built straight through its habitat…none of that is natural selection at work.
That’s human impact, plain and simple.
We see it in every species.
Fawns brought in because well-meaning people assumed they were abandoned.
Squirrels with skull fractures after falling from trees that were cut mid-nesting season.
Opossums full of buckshot or secondary rodenticide poisoning.
Rabbits whose nests were destroyed by mowers, domestic cats or domestic dogs.
Even our precious predators (hawks, owls, foxes) coming in emaciated or injured because the ecosystems they rely on have been chipped away piece by piece.
“Letting nature take its course” would mean stepping back BEFORE the harm is done.
It would mean preserving habitats, keeping cats indoors, leashing dogs, checking for nests before cutting trees, slowing down on roads where wildlife is active, and educating ourselves about the animals we share this space with.
Because once the damage is done (once that animal is injured, orphaned, poisoned, or displaced by something we caused) walking away and calling it “nature” isn’t respect for the wild. It is irrefutable avoidance of responsibility. 💔
