An Alamo family stumbled across a heartbreaking sight in its backyard recently: a whimpering 4-day-old fawn, apparently abandoned by its mother.

Naturally, they scooped up the trembling beast and delivered her to a wildlife rehabilitation hospital.

The only problem was that the fawn was not injured. Nor was she abandoned. Instead, she was among the 500 perfectly healthy fawns a year that well-meaning animal lovers bring into California rehabilitation hospitals, often causing more harm than good.

The California Department of Fish and Game is warning the public not to handle wildlife, especially babies. The department also noted that it's illegal in California to keep wildlife unless you're a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

"People bring in healthy wildlife all the time. We call it kidnapping," said Melanie Piazza, director of animal care at WildCare wildlife hospital in San Rafael. "I know people mean well, but if they see baby animals, they should let Mom and Dad raise them, not us."

Deer, rabbits and some other animals often leave their babies alone for up to 12 hours at a spell while the parents forage for food.

In the case of the Alamo fawn, veterinarian Anneke Moresco of the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek gave her a complete physical exam before determining that she was a tad terrified but otherwise OK.

"She was making a very pathetic little noise," she said. "But she was very alert, very responsive."

A volunteer from the Lindsay museum returned the fawn a few hours later to the exact spot where the family found her, in hopes the fawn's mother would never know her baby was missing.

Wildlife experts said obviously injured or abandoned animals should be left alone unless the cause of the animal's distress is related to humans. For example, babies whose mother was hit by a car, or an animal that's been injured by an off-leash dog, should be brought to a wildlife hospital.

But in most cases, babies that appear abandoned aren't. Even animals that look injured might just be temporarily dazed.

"We highly advise people to leave animals alone," said East Bay Regional Park District spokeswoman Shelley Lewis. "Sometimes picking it up is the worst thing you can do."

Park officials urge people to contact a ranger or other park staff member who can safely move the animal to a treatment facility.

Otherwise, people should let nature take its course.

"If a crow goes after a dove, there's no point in treating the dove because the crow will just find another dove," Moresco said. "It's hard to watch sometimes, but it's nature."