Baby rabbits

Two fist sized rabbits ran out from under some litter anout three feet from the mover.
They’ll come back to the nest, right?

If the neighborhood dogs/cats/birds of prey don’t get to them first.

Baby rabbits aren’t all that terribly smart. It’s one of the reasons rabbits breed like… well… rabbits.

There’s a nice big patch of woods behind my house. For a couple of years in a row, Mrs Rabbit decided to ignore this big wonderful splotch of peaceful wilderness and decided to build her nest in my yard. I have dogs. My neighbor had dogs. Mrs Rabbit could not have picked a worse place for her nest. Suffice it to say that despite our best efforts to the contrary, the first year all of the baby bunnies ended up as dog food.

The next year, we decided to try and save the bunnies. We waited until they all started hopping out of their nest and didn’t look too keen on going back in (apparently the stage yours have reached), and scooped them all up and put them in a bunny cage. We got instructions from the local vet (who warned us that baby bunnies are notoriously difficult to keep alive), and despite all of our best efforts, we ended up with a cage full of dead bunnies.

I wouldn’t put much hope in trying a bunny rescue at this point. There’s a decent chance that they’ll go back in. If they don’t, there’s a good chance they’ll end up as food for one of the neighborhood critters. But then the chances of them making it to adulthood were pretty slim even before you disturbed them.

However, many people think that if you touch the baby bunnies the mother will avoid the human smell on them and you are basically cursing them to a death by starvation. I can tell you from experience that this is not true. If you put them back in their nest, momma bunny will come back and feed them.

I don’t know how big your fist is, but by the time rabbits are running about, they’re quite likely to be capable of independent survival; it only takes 15 days from birth until they are completely weaned. Of course remaining with the mother, they would be protected somewhat from predation etc, but they’re probably not going to die from neglect.

For the sake of your serenity don’t read Watership Down. At least not now. :wink:

That’s good news. I understand there’s something like a 90% loss rate, but I’d prefer it not be my fault. :slight_smile: