Any wildlife experts?
10Yesterday a septic company came out to inspect my tank to see if the field was bad… When he went to open the second lid, he displaced a baby bunny nest. Two of them are cowering together by the side of my house. The third one hopped into my palm trees. Online it says to leave the nest alone. Obviously this was impossible. I tucked some leaves and grass next to the ones by my house. I checked on them last night and they were sitting up, I’m assuming looking for mama. I never saw mama. This morning the two were huddled up together again… Still by the side of my house. I’m assuming mama never came, because she would of probably moved them, right? I tried putting water next to them… But I don’t think they drank any. They’re only about 4-5" long. I went poking around under my palms, and I still couldn’t find the third. I don’t know if mama found that one. Both locations are about 12’ from the original nest, and about 24’ from each other.
There’s a wildlife place I can take them to. They’re open for about 5 more hours.
Online it says mama only goes in the morning and at night to feed them because she doesn’t want to draw attention to the nest. There’s tons of bunnies around here, and they jump across the road. I don’t know if mama is still alive, or just didn’t find them.
Should I take them in? It’s warm here, and they’re tiny. I’m afraid if they didn’t get fed last night, they might not make it another night.
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Can you call the wildlife place? That bunny you’re showing looks to be at least 3 weeks old, and even baby rabbits don’t starve to death in two days (although it’ll get mighty hungry, that’s true). Your best option may be to just leave them be for another night (but please take the local expert opinion over mine).
Rabbits are not known for their high intellect. Mom may have returned to the vanished nest, and decided that the kids were dinner for a predator. Unless they’re close enough to where the nest was that she could smell them, they may just be invisible to her. The third one may have ended up with mom, or been found by a local predator. If mom found one of them, she’s probably not going to look for the other two.
At the age that one is (assuming you could catch either one of them), you’d need to resign yourself to bottle feeding (so there’s the need to involve the wildlife place, who may have equipment to loan you, or suggestions).
Okay, this is VERY important. Animals depend strongly on their sense of smell. If you touch these babies, your scent will be on them, and their mother may reject it. I’m pretty sure you’re not going to catch the mother, but even if you did, she still might reject them if they smell too much like you, and not enough like her.
There’s more, but I need more coffee…
@Shrdlu I called the number to the wildlife place and there was just a really long detailed message about what to do if you find wildlife in need of help. I’ll see if there’s another number to call.
Looking online, it said that it’s a myth that mom will reject them if I pick them up. I’ve left them mostly alone because I don’t want to scare them to death. I only briefly touched the one this morning to check if it was alive because it’s legs were splayed out and it scared me.
I don’t want to touch them any more than needed in case the scent thing turns out to be true.
@RiotDemon There are many animals for which the scent thing doesn’t really hold, but rabbits are one that it does. Some deer are also; in my long distant youth, we grabbed the mother and the fawn, and painted the mother’s nose with vanilla, and the fawn also. By the time the vanilla wore off, the mother’s scent was back on the fawn, and life proceeded as it should.
It’s also generally bad practice to handle wild animals because it’s best if they don’t learn to trust humans. I can see that you’re soft-hearted, and want to do the right thing. Rabbits tend to be one of the rodents that people find appealing, and it’s hard (I’m sure) to not pick them up and take care of them. Too bad the wildlife place isn’t answering the phone, but non-profits (I’m assuming) have to prioritize.
Try putting a bit of lettuce or other vegetables out near them; they look old enough to manage it.
Awe, I can already see that you are soon to become a bunny step-mom.
I know you have already received great advice but I wanted to add that baby bunnies thrive when they are able to watch bowling. Go ahead, look it up, it’s true. Scientists theorize that the bunnies are fascinated by the pins, which make a sound exactly like a carrot as they stand there.
@therealjrn I don’t even… how do you come up with this stuff?
@jbartus it was from the individual sports thread conversation… And then it took a weird turn, lol
Read this: http://www.wildrescuetexas.org/wildrabbit.html
@rockblossom Excellent link. I defer to their advice concerning scent; they say I’m wrong, and it wouldn’t be the first time. At least I’m done being wrong for today.
I hope that @RiotDemon reads the article through. I’ve bookmarked it myself. You just never know…
@rockblossom @Shrdlu
Thanks for the advice. I found a link to message them on facebook. I got one reply so far and I sent a photo.
I’m awaiting follow up because the one is now missing and the other one burrowed a little hole. I put a little more grass to try and shield it in case there’s a bird or something.
According to the wildlife people, it looks old enough to be on its own… Maybe that’s why the one is gone. Hopefully that’s all it was.
@RiotDemon So you are supposed to leave him alone?
@ELUNO the wildlife person said they would disperse on their own, they’re old enough.
Last I checked, only the one was there and he’s burrowed a hole. I don’t want to keep bothering it… I just don’t want it to die. The local wildlife people should know better than me.
I mean, when we accidentally hit the nest, they jumped pretty quickly. It’s not like they’re newborns that can barely move.
@RiotDemon Yeah, they don’t look that young. They look so cute and fussy like a tarantula.
@ELUNO they are pretty cute. There’s tons of rabbits here, which to me is weird. If they stayed in the wildlife sanctuary area (just a piece of land that no one is allowed into) I’d kind of understand… But they are always in my neighborhood, jumping in front of my car. I’ve seen them sitting in the middle of the lawn late at night. I guess I might of caught one going to their nest.
Now that I know they nest in the middle of the yard, it kinda makes me upset that I have someone cut my grass. I’ve never found dead bunnies in my grass… Maybe I’ve just been lucky? Maybe their nest is low enough that the blades wouldn’t disturb it? But what’s stopping the wheels? Ugh. Too much to think about.
@RiotDemon I think they actually burrow so they would be below grass level.
I found this vid showing how deep it can be. (although that guy should leave them alone!)
@ELUNO "why are they shaking?"
Cuz they’re fucking terrified!
That would explain why we didn’t find them until after a few shovels worth of dirt came up. Maybe they’re even low enough that the lawnmower wheels might not hurt it.
Makes me feel a little better.
@ELUNO yikes yeah that guy kinda sucks for messing with those babies… they are adorable… scared and adorable… hope no larger creatures got them in the night heh
Tell them stories about El-Ahrairah and offer them vegetables.
@Pantheist I never read that.
@RiotDemon Tales from Watership Down is okay, the original (Watership Down) is one of my favorite books, probably a tie between that and The Master and Margerita
Take them to the raptor center they will know what to do with them.
@cranky1950
Your crankiness seems to be on TGIF setting. Pls adjust.
Went to check because all the websites for Florida rabbits suggested putting grass in a criss cross pattern to see if the mother comes back. It also says that the mom will call for her bunnies, sometimes even a week later. It said starving babies would cry.
I had some leaves and grass kinda piled up. When I checked, the grass was pulled to the side and the last bun bun is gone. I can only hope that meant mommy relocated it.
The only predator around here that I see is cats, and they usually don’t come around at night. I can only hope their owners bring them in.
Thanks for everyone that had suggestions. I hope I did the right thing to leave it alone.
@RiotDemon The right thing is hard to define, but I think we can say with some confidence that you didn’t do the wrong thing.
@Pantheist thank you for the kind words.
Leave them alone. They are nearly big enough to go off alone anyway. Never move them. Mom comes back
@msujp I updated above. Thanks.