My dogs chased two baby bunnies (probably hares here in NJ; they are brown with little black stripes) and now the bunnies are huddled together under a shrub in my front yard. They are really, really little – like 2.5" long; their eyes are open and they are very fast, but I don’t know if they’ve lost their mom and will starve I did grab one of them as they ran by but she emitted a terrible shriek and wriggled away.
What do I do? Circle of life and all that, but my heart hurts. If they wander back into the yard the dogs will kill them and they are so small they are any other animals’ prey.
There’s a wildlife rescue center near us (opens again tomorrow morning). Should I just leave them for the night and check tomorrow? The site says that babies are old enough to be on their own when they are the size of a tennis ball; these two are small lemon-sized.
Probably best to leave them alone if you don’t have too many hawks or owls, or coyotes around, in case the mother comes back. Then call the rescue tomorrow. If you can you could put bricks or some other improvised enclosure or cage around them to be on the safe side (from predation). Not much else you can do. If you move them and the mother can’t find them, she will likely abandon the area.
I say this in all seriousness, you should probably leave them alone. If they’re hares, they’re quite capable of taking care of themselves from an early age, as they’re born fully developed and with their eyes open. If they’re rabbits, their mother will probably find them. If they’re more than a month old, they’re probably weaned and on their own, anyway. If they’re too fast for you to catch, they probably don’t need your help and you may do more harm to them.
It may be illegal to possess wildlife in your area, anyway. If they seem healthy, keep your dogs out of the yard and wait for the rabbits to leave on their own. If they are sick, you should call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.
I know it may sound cruel to say, “Let nature take its course,” but in this case it’s probably true. Wildlife is better off without human interference. They’ll be fine.
On preview - I agree to leave them alone for the night. Don’t handle them, you don’t want them to get accustomed to humans handling them. Call the wildlife center in the morning and get instructions on what to do. But either their mother will find them or they will leave on their own.
Also, they won’t starve. Mother rabbits only feed their babies for a few minutes a day and spend lots of time away from the nest. They’re not constantly nursing.
I think both of you are right. I’ll check on them in the morning – we do have a lot of predators around (the worse being our dogs – who are in the backyard and can’t get at them, but I’m afraid the babies will try to bolt back through the chainlink fence to the dog yard again).
They are soooo cuute and widdly-piddly, their liddle, liddle ears aren’t even able to stand up yet (I actually thought they were newborn squirrels/chipmunks).
I had this happen last year. Saved a golfball sized baby bunny from a cat. I couldn’t cage the cat so I took the bunny. It didn’t eat or drink anything and died in two days.
Infant rabbits only nurse once or twice a day, so if their mother finds them, they will probably be OK. If she doesn’t, taking them in and trying to care for them will only delay their deaths. Sorry.
The momma will leave the babies alone as she is foraging, and will return. Usually to the nest, which may appear like a dead spot in the lawn, likewise in the woods but harder to see.
When I was a kid we found a hole in the yard with 8 little baby bunnies in it. We watched the hole for days and never saw the mother come back so we brought them in and tried to take care of them (we probably shouldn’t have). All but one died, but that one lived for over 10 years.
Mrs G used to work wildlife rescue. Bunnies go into shock very easily and even if uninjured, most baby bunnies would die. Squirrels were indestructible.
I did grab one of them as they ran by but she emitted a terrible shriek and wriggled away.