Wildlife / A baby or hurt animal
Spring and summer bring fawns, young birds, and rabbits that seem alone. Often a parent is nearby or will return. Picking one up can separate the family and may also be illegal, so watch from a distance before deciding it needs help.
A doe leaves her fawn hidden and still for hours while she feeds - that's normal, not abandonment. A fawn curled in the grass that isn't crying, isn't covered in fire ants, has eyes that aren't swollen, and shows no wound: leave it alone and keep pets away.
If the bird has feathers, open eyes, and is hopping around, it's a fledgling learning to fly - its parents are nearby. Leave it. A featherless, eyes-closed baby out of the nest may need help: gently put it back if you can reach the nest (the myth that parents reject a human-touched baby is false). A blown-down nest can be set back in the tree.
When it truly needs help: A young animal truly needs help when it's covered in fire ants, or clearly injured or sick - and also if it's cold and limp, bleeding, or you watched the parent die. Then: don't feed it (the wrong food can kill it), keep it warm, dark, and quiet in a box, and call a permitted wildlife rehabilitator.
The kindest, most legal move is almost always the same: don't handle it yourself - reach a permitted wildlife rehabilitator. Rehabbers are trained and licensed to care for protected wildlife; it's hard to do right, and illegal without a permit.
A turtle in the road? Found a turtle crossing a road? If it's safe for you and traffic, you can move it across in the direction it was already heading - never turn it around, and never take it home.
Official sources
Guidance on young and injured wildlife comes from TPWD, which keeps the county-by-county list of permitted rehabilitators. It's illegal to possess most native wildlife yourself.
Before you act: It's illegal to keep most native wildlife without a permit. When an animal needs help, a permitted rehabber is the right - and legal - call. How to use Texas Porch carefully.
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