When Maria Frontera found ducks in trouble at the Tops parking lot, she wanted to help.

A young mallard was “squawking and fluttering” next to a lifeless female.

In order to encourage the youngster to leave and, hopefully, find a living duck to be with and learn from, Frontera decided to take the dead animal away. She planned to cremate it when she got home.

Then she thought there might be reasons she shouldn’t.

“Mallards are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918,” according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) website. “It is illegal for any person to take, possess, transport, sell, or purchase them or their parts, such as feathers, nests, or eggs, without a permit.”

Officials didn’t take a hard line on a mallard taken from a parking lot by someone with good intentions. Working with both FWS and the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC), Frontera was cleared to dispose of the animal’s body.

“The Service generally recommends leaving dead birds in place if possible,” FWS Assistant Field Office Supervisor Robert Anderson said. “We’d rather let nature just take its course and animal scavengers remove the remains; however, given that the bird is in a public area, I did confirm with the PA Game Commission that she can cremate the bird.”

In general, officials advise that people do not touch dead animals.

“It’s never advisable – although people may be well-intentioned – that people deal with wildlife,” Pennsylvania Game Commission Information and Education Supervisor Jason Amory said. “I don’t ever recommend that anyone from the public deal with wildlife. There are many potentials for contamination.”

It is possible that the animals died from a disease that could be passed to humans – zootic, Amory said. Rabies, for instance, could survive in a dead animal.

“The body temperature might still be high enough… you could contract rabies from that animal,” he said.

Animals that are found dead along a roadway can be assumed to be roadkill. The Game Commission doesn’t have enough game wardens to pick up every roadkill. “That would be all they do,” Amory said.

But wardens could remove a deer that is in someone’s yard.

Both the Game Commission and PennDOT can take steps to remove or otherwise deal with roadkill.

Animals that are dead without some obvious reason are another case.

“If you have a dead woodchuck in your backyard, if I’m a game warden and it died for no known cause, I’d want to check it out,” Amory said.

All animals that are suspected of being killed by people – whether by shooting or poisoning – should be reported to the Game Commission.

“I recognize that unless it is immediately obvious, determining the cause of death will be difficult or impossible,” Anderson said. “However, if a bird appears to have died of infection or disease, people should either contact USDA Wildlife Services (1-866-4-USDA-WS) or the local Pennsylvania Game Commission office in Franklin (814) 432-3187. Alternatively, if a bird appears to have been illegally injured or killed, people are encouraged to contact the Service’s Office of Law Enforcement (1-844-FWS-TIPS) or the PGC.”

Eagles are a special case.

“Any remnants of eagles, we will go get it,” Amory said. “There is a repository for eagle feathers.” “It’s illegal to possess parts of any wildlife unless it was legally taken… except shed antlers,” he said. “If the skull and antlers are still intact, you can’t take those.”

The Game Commission can sell the rights to those items.

“You can ask a game warden,” Amory said. “A dead fawn, some people want to taxidermy those, a bear cub, a fisher, we will sell those to you, we just want the opportunity to inspect it. We don’t want anyone profiting unjustly from the improper death of an animal.”

If a person has a question about how to handle a wildlife-related situation, “The best solution is to call us,” Amory said. “Even if it seems inconsequential or it seems like a burden.”