Feeding a wild animal at your house or cabin may seem harmless but it can have serious effects for both the animals and humans. Human food is not made for animals. It can cause disease, injuries to the animal and, even, death.

Feeding wildlife can make them dependent on humans as a source of food and they may become unable to survive on their own. Hand feeding is especially dangerous because there is no guarantee a wild animal knows where food stops and your fingers begin.

Wild animals can:

• Lose their natural fear of people once they become used to humans feeding them. It puts people at risk, especially children.
• Be unpredictable. A wild animal may see people, including children, as a threat and may attack to defend itself.
• Become used to being near humans and may have to be destroyed to ensure public safety.
• May follow the scent of food or improperly stored garbage to a home or cabin, which can lead to damaged property. Make sure you store garbage and any pet food left outside properly.
• Can be a risk for people if you get to close to them because they sometimes carry diseases, such as rabies.
• Change their normal behaviour if people feed them. This makes it difficult to tell if a wild animal is coming close because of a disease or because it is looking for food. This can result in healthy animals being killed.