Nursing a Baby Bunny

Wild Rabbits – Orphaned or Not?

Wild babies are most often not orphaned! Many people mean well when they contact HRS after discovering an “abandoned” nest of wild rabbits. Often they wish to “rehabilitate” them with some advice from others. The reality is fewer than 10% of orphaned rabbits survive a week, and the care that people attempt to provide can be illegal, unnecessary, and potentially harmful. The best thing you can do is put the bunny right back where you found him, in the general area, as the mom will only come back at night to call and find him. Leave the area. If injured, please contact a or rabbit vet immediately. Other, and and . Also search for your state/country and wild rabbit rehabbers. If you find one whose eyes are open, and he appears healthy, leave him be. If picked up, go put him back outside.

A baby of only 10 days to 21 days or so should not be found away from the nest. At that age they stay pretty close to the nest. If a nest can’t be found that means the baby is pretty far away from the nest for a reason. It could be something frightened the baby so badly that he ran far away and is now lost, alone, and scared. Crows frequently raid nests and carry off babies, but they can’t always hold onto them and sometimes drop them. This is a reason both baby bunnies and baby squirrels are sometimes found in strange places far away from any nest. They may be suffering from head trauma; especially if they are having problems walking and using their front legs. Check for indications of dried blood around the nose which is sometimes seen in babies dropped from a height. Check for peck marks on the backside of the baby. He may have escaped from a crow trying to peck him to death. Check to see that the baby is not dehydrated or injured before releasing back into the wild and release in a place (heavy, tall grass, under a bush, etc.) where the baby is hidden and has a better chance of not being seen by predators. A cottontail baby around the size of a tennis balls with ears that are about an inch long is likely to be old enough to have just left the nest on his own.

Vincent van Gogh drew and painted a series of works of his mistress Sien during their time together in the Netherlands. In particular, his drawing Sorrow is widely acknowledged as a masterwork of draftsmanship, the culmination of a long and sometimes uncertain apprenticeship in learning his craft.
Commonly called Sien Hoornik, Clasina Maria...

• Nursing a Sleepy Baby
• Nursing a Baby Squirrel
• Nursing a Baby