Don't Feed Wildlife

Please don't. We want to look at wildlife, not give them food and be a part of the problem of animals getting too friendly with us. Don't touch either.

Birds, squirrels, marmots, foxes, deer, elk, bears and everything else shouldn't be fed. It might actually be illegal depending on where you are.

They might not cause a problem when you feed them, but when enough people do it, the habits of the animal change. They could get more aggressive when people don't have food. Or they rely on humans and can't feed themselves.

Think of animals raised in captivity. Most can't be freed because they were being fed by humans.

When a problematic animal such as a bear gets too comfortable around humans (not being directly fed, but food not properly stored), the likelihood it hurts someone goes up. Then it's euthanized if a relocation fails to work.

You might think a little trial mix won't change anything. The others that feed animals think the same thing.

Please, just don't feed the animals.