Well, I guess it depends on a few factors. I'll just list them to 'triage' it.

1. Are you responsible for what has happened? If not, who/what is? (It often doesn't matter who's responsible, but just helps with perspective)
2. Will stepping in benefit, do harm, or not matter? (the big question)
3. Is it fairly safe, physically, financially and emotionally to become involved? (The strain is often very much worth it, but on the other hand, the rescuer should take care to not need rescuing.)

I'll just run through a few examples. Take this with a grain of salt, just my perspective.

With the nests, if the birds are native to the area, and the storms are wintertime storms, they're probably used to rebuilding unoccupied nests that have been blown down. In which case it doesn't matter. And preserving the doomed nests would be time consuming, finance consuming and might even alarm the birds who are used to having clean building pads year after year.

But if a nest with hatchlings falls, then stepping in to reset the nest to its rightful place (along with its occupants) or bringing the hatchlings to a wildlife rehab center, would save their little lives and really matter.

In case of hitting a deer, there's few wildlife rehab places who can handle such large animals. And a deer hit hard enough that it doesn't immediately disappear into the underbrush, probably wouldn't survive anyway. Which narrows it down to having a dying animal by the side of the road. In which case calling an officer to shoot the poor thing may seem harsh, but is probably the most merciful solution. Troubling for the people involved, but a mercy for the deer.

In the case of finding a dog. It's perfectly ethical to find a good breeder and get a puppy of a breed you love. But stepping in and bailing out a shelter mutt (or going to a breed rescue) saves a life. Even from a no-kill shelter or rescue, it opens up room for another animal to come there. Then there's the debate over 'special needs' animals, whether to adopt a charming critter who needs vet care and will be euthanized if you don't step in, versus a healthy critter who has a fair chance. They're all pretty loaded issues, and I'm extremely fond of and happy with my shelter mutts, but because it's a 10-15 year committment, I think it's entirely up to the person adopting/buying to choose what's best for their capabilities and wants.

In the case of a raccoon colony showing up at the backdoor hungry, since the neighbor who fed them moved away, in this case I'd do nothing. Even if it meant some raccoons starving to death, it was due to a human meddling that their population exploded, and due to a human that they learned to associate people with food. Neither of which are good things. In which case, not feeding them would actually help fix the problem in the long run, harsh though it may sound.

Hope this helps/gives food for thought.
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0.2 chickens (Condor & Valentine)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.1 Normal phase California Kingsnake (Sophia)
1.0 Leucistic Southern Pine (Steve)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

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