One day early this summer, I was outside rinsing a stack of litter boxes when I looked down to see that I had drenched a wild baby bunny. He was about 3" long, his eyes were open, and he didn't move. I easily scooped him up and proceeded to "rehabilitate" him with some advice from others. For two weeks I cared for this adorable fellow, whom I named " Cricket" because he bounced around like a flea or cricket. After I released him, I learned that most of what I had done was probably illegal, unnecessary, and potentially harmful. Below is the information I received from Yvonne Wallace Blane of the Fellow Mortals Rehabilitation Center in Lake Geneva. As a House Rabbit Society Member, you may be asked for advice or help with wild baby bunnies. Here are some things you need to know.

Finding a Nest

Rabbits "hide their nests in plain view," often putting them in the open, for example in the middle of the lawn, as well as in brush piles and long grass. If you find a nest that has been disturbed, do all you can to restore and protect it rather than bring the infants inside. If a dog has discovered the nest, you can put a wheelbarrow over it, so that the mother can get to it but the dog cannot. You can also protect the nest with a wicker laundry basket with a hole cut in it for the mother to enter.

Nests can be moved to a safer place up to 10' away from the original site and can be reconstructed if necessary. To make a new nest, dig a shallow hole about 3" deep and put into it as much of the original material as you can recover, including the mother's fur. Add dried grass as needed, and put the young back. Mother rabbits return to the nest to nurse only one or two times a day, staying away as much as possible so as not to attract predators. To determine if the mother is returning, create a tic-tac-toe pattern over the nest with twigs. Wait 24 hours to see if the twigs have been removed. If they have, then the mother is coming back.

Determining if the Young Need Help

Very young wild baby bunnies with eyes closed and ears back rarely survive in captivity, even given the most expert human care; and so it is very important to determine whether they really need help. Try to assess whether the infants seem warm and healthy or cold, thin, and dehydrated. One test for dehydration is to gently pinch the loose skin at the back of the neck. If it stays in a "tent," the bunny is dehydrated and needs rehabilitation. Another test is to stroke the genital area to stimulate elimination. If the pee is grown and gritty, the mother rabbit has not been there to help the bunnies urinate. The brown, gritty urine is toxic, and the infant bunny must be cared for.

Older baby bunnies who are found outside of the nest may not be orphaned or in need of assistance. Baby cottontails are born without fur but develop a full coat in a week. Their eyes open in 6-10 days, and in three weeks they are weaned. At this age, they are about as round as a banana, and they may explore the world outside of the nest but return there to sleep. They are not ignored by the mother but stay with the family group until four or five weeks of age. To determine whether a bunny of this age needs assistance, perform the dehydration and urine tests. Also look for bleeding, convulsing, fly larvae, broken limbs. (Being wet does not require hospitalization, I learned!)

Helping the Injured Bunny

The best thing you can do for an injured baby bunny is to get in touch with a skilled rehabilitator. In Madison, the Emergency Clinic for Animals on the beltline will care for injured wildlife. Its rehabilitation program and all others in the state are supported entirely by donations. Every county in Wisconsin has a warden from the Department of Natural Resources who will know the rehabilitator(s) in the area. To locate the warden in your county, you can call the Wildlife Management office of the DNR at 608-266-1877. Rehabilitators vary in commitment and competence, and probably the best procedure is to call the Wisconsin Wildlife Rehabilitation Association for the name of a good rehabilitator or for advice. The president is Jacqueline De Bauche, and her number is 715-356-7400. Report any negative experiences. You are also welcome to contact us.

Contributing to the Problem

The harsh reality is that many of us who care about wild baby bunnies may be contributing to the suffering and death. House cats who roam outside will kill about every other time they go out. And unlike feral cats who hunt because they are hungry, and kill immediately, house cats maul and torment their prey, sometimes skinning baby bunnies alive. Cat owners need to provide managed outdoor habitats for their cats - such as windowboxes or pens.

Lawn chemicals can produce convulsing death in baby rabbits. According to the Poison Control Center for Animals, lawn applications that contain herbicides are not directly toxic to small animals; but they may make toxic plants more palatable to them and may make the animals sick for a few days. Products which contain insecticides, such as Dursban or Diazinion, which are added to many lawn products to control fleas or grubs in the lawn, are toxic.

Releasing Cricket

After two weeks, Cricket escaped from his daytime outdoor pen while I was trying to relocate him to a less urban area than my backyard. I'm glad he did, as I subsequently learned that trapping and translocating animals is stressful and often fatal. Many of them get killed trying to find their way back to their own territory. And so now I see Cricket about twice a day. Having developed a taste for rabbit pellets while he was an HRS guest, he comes and eats them from the dish I leave for him outside. I will continue to feed him as long as he is around, especially during the winter, since he has now become dependent on my assistance. He does his tiny little aerobics on the lawn, back, forth, and in between the foster rabbits' runs. From the first day he tried to get their attention but failed. They continue to ignore him; but I am delighted to see him, happy that he survived my loving care.

I am grateful to wildlife rehabilitators Yvonne Wallace Blane, Fellow Mortals Rehabilitation Center, Sheryl McGlamery, Emergency Clinic for Animals, and Chris Norden for information on wild baby rabbits.

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