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FOUND A WILD BABY RABBIT?

Wow!  Aren’t they just the absolute, most precious little babies you’ve ever seen?
I have first hand knowledge to impart here so I do know a little bit about what I’m talking about

By “wild” we mean literally “wild”; not domesticated, parents not raised in a human home and cared for by human beings, babies and Mother actually living and functioning in the wild, on their own, without human intervention.
  They are just SO cute, so defenseless looking, so huggable looking, and wouldn’t it be so very nice if we did something nice for them, especially to protect them and insure their survival?  Mom Rabbit isn’t around, so they must be orphans and need help, right?  And you might be more than willing to give that help too.

BUT THAT IS  THE  WRONG THING TO DO PROBABLY 99% OF THE TIME!

Instead of helping the poor, defenseless baby rabbits, the well meaning person who just found them may well instead be setting them up to die.  I know that sounds terrible to say and as an animal lover I hate to say it too, but one of the worst things a person can do is decide found baby rabbits are orphans and deserted.  They almost never are.

Even if a nest has been destroyed and some of the babies killed, Mom may still come back to care for her babies.  Unless you know she cannot, as in she is known to be dead, the babies should have nothing done for them except to protect them from further damage. 
   If at all possible, protect them from further harm but also if it’s in any way possible, do NOT remove them from the nest.  More on why in a moment.  First I just wanted to emphasize that in the case of baby rabbits (an several other species too), the very worst and most cruel thing you can do to/for them is to “take them in” to provide them protection and nurturing when Mom is nowhere to be found.

Even when it’s kown that Mom Rabbit is dead and the babies will perish without immediate assistance, in over 99% of the cases, the RIGHT thing to do is first and foremost protect them, and then ASAP find a Wildlie Rehabilitator.  Depending on your skills, the rehabilitator may take the animals, or mentor you through raising the precious babies. 

Following are some facts that I hope will explain why I’ve said the things I did above, and lend some credibility to those statements.  I’ll also provide a few links to pages that contain the information I give here and more.  

Here are some facts about rabbits to help the reader understand the situation.  This is NOT intended to be all inclusive nor even highly inclusive of what it takes to care for baby bunnies.  So, please always consult a vet and/or rehabilitator should you find yourself in these circumstances.

•   Mom is seldom at the nest.  She is our foraging for food, leading enemies away from her young and for all kinds of other reasons too.  In fact, she may at times only return “home” late in the evening, long enough to feed and clean her babies, and then have to go back out again.
• Not seeing Mom around the nest does NOT in any way mean that she had abandoned her babies or that they are orphaned.
•   A baby rabbit’s rescue habitat MUST be kept at an ambient temperature of 85° Farenheit.
• A healthy baby rabbit’s core body temperature may be in excess of 102°F.
• Trying to feed a cold baby can result in death.
• NEVER attempt to hydrate or feed a baby rabbit immediately.  The shock can cause death.  They are VERY fragile!
• For survival, it is IMPERATIVE that baby bunnies NOT be stressed!  As a child I recall seeing a young rabbit die of stress because a dog was barking and running wildly around its cage.  They are very fragile animals!
• Only after a baby rabbit has completely stabilized can any attempts to care  for it be made, including feeding and hydration. 
• Orphaned wild bunnies do not make good pets.  They have the “wild” bred into them and it cannot be taken out of them. 
• Rescured bunnies should only be cared for in the presence of others of their kind so they will not imprint on the human or worse dogs and/or cats that may live in the house.  They have those fears for good reasons. 
• Wild rabbits only nurse for a few minutes at night, and moms vanish the rest of the day. If you've disturbed a nest, put the babies back and restore the fur/grass covering; the mother will move them over the next 48 hours.

I do not have a listing for wildlife rehabilitors  in our area but I will try to come up with such a list and add it to this page. 

If you love animals as much as we do, I know you want to do your best for them so the following table of links may be useful to you.  There are many good web sites for this subject and I wish you all a happy and long lasting relatioship with our friends of Mother Nature’s creations.

Baby Rabbit Age Stages:

• Infant: Naked, eyes closed, ears flan and 3-4” long.
• Juvenile: 7 to 10 days old: Fully furred, eyes opened
• 2-3 weeks old:  Investigating greens, softened solids, possibly lapping formula.
• Ault: 3-4 weeks old: Weaned from furmula, eating greens and clover, 4-5” long.

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