Most patients at a Naples wildlife hospital are there from human causes

What if we could have prevented all of these animals from getting hurt?

Von Arx Wildlife Hospital in Naples says most of its patients are hurt by human causes.

Brandon Felix says he has been fishing for years, “I’ve been fishing I think ever since I was able to hold a pole.”

He’s also picked up some safety tricks of the trade along the way.

“If you pull out any trash, extra line or anything that you see on the rocks, just make sure to throw that away and I’ve seen birds that are tangled up before,” Felix said. “I’ve gone and cut the line to let them go.”

But not everyone is so considerate and some sea creatures and birds end up injured or dead.

Some human activities you may not even think about have a broader impact.

Director of the Von Arx Wildlife Hospital Joanna Fitzgerald says it’s the daily things that people are doing all over that are causing a problem on multiple levels for the animals.

“Landscaping, home improvement, walking our dogs, letting them out in the backyard, the cats, same thing. So The majority of animals the Von Arx Animal Hospital sees, suffer human-related injuries,” she says. “If you’re landscaping, look before you start hoeing or trimming because that one whack of a hoe into the dirt could be where there’s an animal that’s had a nest.”

Although many of the injuries are unintentional Fitzgerald says, “We have altered this environment tremendously and these animals are still just trying to do what they need to do to find food and find a place to have their babies.”

A reminder to all of us to share our space.