A bobcat, thought to be a discarded pet, sits on top of a cat carrier at Skye's Spirit Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center near Harrisville in Venengo County. The animal is recovering after having surgery to remove pieces of a latex dog toy found in its stomach.

As spring approaches, many county residents will discover young or injured animals and birds while working or playing outdoors.

Although a common reaction is to try and help the animal by offering comfort and food, licensed wildlife rehabilitators say these actions can be harmful.

The following tips offer guidance on how to help local wildlife:

• If a mammal or bird exhibits signs of being hurt or sick, call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. For a mammal, symptoms are bleeding, shivering or vomiting. For birds, symptoms include bleeding, inability to flutter the wings, wings drooping unevenly and shivering.

• For mammals, if the animal is young and does not appear sick, place it in the nest or den if visible. Otherwise, place the animal in a shallow box close to where it was found. Keep it warm but out of the sun.

Watch for the mother, but remain out of sight. The mother will not return if you are visible. Call a wildlife rehabilitator if the mother does not return within six hours.

• For birds, determine whether the bird is feathered. A nestling, or bird without feathers, should be placed in the nest. If the nest is not intact or is not visible, make a substitute nest out of dry grass or pine needles or by poking holes in a plastic margarine container.

Put the nest in a nearby tree. Call a wildlife rehabilitator if you determine the parents are not visiting the real or makeshift nest.

If the bird has feathers, make sure it is safe from pets and people. It is otherwise normal for young feathered birds to hop on the ground.

Watch from a distance. Call a wildlife rehabilitator if you determine parents are not nearby.

• Often, nests of bunnies are discovered by people mowing grass. Those nests should be mowed around or covered with the disturbed debris if the nest was discovered after the fact.

Bunnies found away from the nest can be returned to the nest if they are healthy and uninjured.Mothers visit the nests at dusk, dawn and sometimes in the middle of the night.Contrary to popular belief, touching wild babies will not cause parent animals to abandon their young, but repeated human contact can discourage the mother's return and attract predators.For more information, call the Wildbird Recovery Songbird Rehabilitation Center at 724-898-1788 or Skye's Spirit Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center at 814-786-9677.Information provided by the Wildbird Recovery Songbird Rehabilitation Center.

Baby eastern cottontails huddle together at Skye's Spirit Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center. Abandoned or injured baby cottontails are usually found in late March or early April, though this year, newborns arrived about three weeks earlier.