Cottontail babies

[pol2277]

Hi all, I realize this seems to be a forum for domestic rabbits, but I’ve seen a few other questions regarding wild ones.

 

My dog found a nest of 4 baby cottontails on Wednesday.  He was pawing at them and I heard loud squeaking and shooed him away.  I was almost afraid to look, not sure what I’d find (a rat, nooo).  To my delight it was four sweet little babies.  I instantly fell in love with them and very carefully monitored my dogs to keep them away from the nest.

 I’ve checked on them every day to be sure the mom was coming back, and she has been.  Unfortunately I’ve scared her off nearly every night letting my dogs out before bed.  But she apparently comes back later as the babies have done very well.

 Yesterday the first two left the nest.  I didn’t see one of them go, so I hope it is alive and well still.  The second crawled under my shed.

 Today the last two left.  I spotted two in the yard and watched them both go under the shed as well.

Now tonight I’ve let my dogs out and there was mom, sniffing around the empty nest.  Such poor timing, I scared her off again which I feel terrible about.  But I know she’ll be back.

 

However, I’m really concerned she won’t find her babies.  Does she call them somehow??  She can’t fit under the shed.  It didn’t appear as though she knew they were under there, as she was nowhere near it.  As said before, I’m rather in love with the little babies.  I know they won’t stick around and eventually I’ll never see them again but I certainly hope they don’t starve to death on their first day out of the nest. 

[Mikey]

If theyve left the nest, they likely are living off of grass now and not relying on mommys milk. They should be fine, so i wouldnt worry

[pol2277]

Thank you They are just so tiny so I couldn’t help it.

Plus I only saw them open their eyes on Saturday and none of the days prior, so I wasn’t sure if they were only about 10 days old or if they were older and just keeping their eyes closed/trying to sleep. I’ve been hoping to catch a glimpse of them (even if its just 1) today but no luck. Not sure if mom ever found them last night but she did come looking.

Hopefully they’re being smart and will only be out at night.

Thanks for the reply Mikey.

[Mikey]

I understand. The small ones are the cutest (shhh)!

[wild] Rabbits are usually awake in the evenings, at night, and early morning. So i wouldnt worry about that either, unless they are some of the odd ones that like to be out and about during the day instead. They are smart little buggers If you saw them while it was still a bit light out, they likely were trying to sleep, or just cuddling up for safety. If you happen to see them again, id love pictures if you can. My mom and i used to do rescue and rehabs for little bunnies and birds, so this thread brings up a lot of good memories for me 

[pol2277]

Ah! I do have a handful of pics from the first day I found them. However, most are on my (currently dead) cell phone, except the one I put on facebook. I uploaded it to an album for you.

They are SO cute. I picked them up to check them after the dog was pawing at them. I wanted to be sure they were okay. Afterwards I checked online and saw multiple times that the old “mom will abandon them if you touch them” thing is a myth, so… I admit. I picked them up and pet them several more times in the following days. Mom always came back. I really just couldn’t help it.

I don’t think I’ll be able to get further photos of them as they’re only coming out at night – and despite my handling of them, they’re rightly afraid of me and I couldn’t get near even if I did see them in daylight now that they’re out of the nest. However I’ll charge my phone today and upload the other pics I took.

Yes, they’re only out at night! I know because I had the joy of seeing them last night. I thought ahead this time and checked before I opened the door to let the dogs out. I saw mom, so I closed the door and retreated to a window. Turned off all the lights in the house so I could see them in the dark. I saw at least 2 babies wandering the yard with her. It felt so good to see these little creatures I’ve been watching over running around and exploring!! I hope all 4 are there, but it was hard enough to make out 2 in the dark and I lost track of them frequently as they moved around. One came right up under the window I was at and sat back on its hind legs. Super cute.

I wonder if, now that they’re mobile, they just stick with her full time – or if they return to the shed and she leaves as she used to. Maybe she is under the shed also, but it doesn’t look like there is a ton of room for her to squeeze under. Then again, cats get into insane places so I’m sure she could too.

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