Help! Rabbits in the neighborhood

[Lisa]

This all started earlier this year in early February.  We have been seeing this one large rabbit in our yard. I even put up a notice on several places to see if someone’s rabbit has gotten loose.  I talk to several people and this is a domesticated rabbit and not a wild rabbit variety that we have in Idaho. No one has responded back to my posts about the rabbit.  So we starting seeing this rabbit quite frequently so we assume he lives nearby somewhere and neighbor confirmed that were two that looked very similar and he saw them together, they were pretty big.  Fast forward to a few days ago.  So we think someone dumped the rabbits or they escaped from somewhere. 

Well it turns out the larger two were male and female and have had babies.  We have a count of at least 7 babies.  2 yellow, 2 black, 2 white/grey, and 1 white/black spotted one. They are so adorable.  Here is a video take through my screen of babies playing, they spend hours in my front yard daily.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R51QlEq99Gg 

We talked to all neighbors on our block and we have an established neighborhood and most of the people have been here for 20+ years and none of the neighbors have had rabbits ever.  My neighbor to the left of me they are always in his backyard playing but the neighbor next to him as never seen them and they just recently started coming into my backyard (they usually hang in the front yard) and to neighbors right of me backyard.  So we are not sure where they came from and why they decided to live between these three yards.  They do venture across street to eat from my neighbors front yard garden but always head back into my neighbors backyard when they get spooked so we think their nest is back there but my neighbor has not found it yet.  All of our house back to a canal in our backyards which is about 15 feet across and 7 feet deep and is filled with water now.  I have to do rabbit checks before I let my dachshunds out in the backyard, while my doxies mouths are not big enough to do anything to the rabbit I want everyone to be safe.

We are mostly all animal lovers here and want the best for these rabbits but we are not sure what to do as I will assume they will keep on reproducing and may end up over running the neighborhood and some people might resort to less humane ways of keeping them out of gardens and such.  We also have two red tailed hawks that live in the area and so we are concerned with their safety.  My neighbor (the one where we think they live) has suggest trying to trap them and take them to the humane society or find a rabbit rescue group in the area.  Any advice by anyone would be wonderful. 

Lisa

[tobyluv]

These rabbits really do need to be caught. They will keep reproducing and many of them are going to come to bad ends at the hands of a predator, by being hit by a car or by being targeted by a mean person. The original pair were probably thrown out by their owner. It unfortunately happens a lot.

There are 2 methods to try to catch them. You can either do it personally, a single person or a small group is better. Lure them to you with apple, banana, cilantro. Try to close in on them, but never chase them, and if you can corral them up against a fence or building, it won’t be so easy for them to run away. Don’t expect to be able to get them on the first try. It does happen, but it can also take a while. Make sure that you have a carrier or small cage at hand, because rabbits are hard to hold onto and they will struggle. If you drop one, not only do you risk injury, but it may never let you get near it again. You can also try throwing a blanket over a rabbit to slow it down or stop it in order for you to firmly grasp it.

Here is one article on catching rabbits: http://www.columbusrabbit.org/strays.php

You can use a humane trap, but it has to be monitored at all times. If the rabbit goes in, it shouldn’t stay there long. It is vulnerable to predators scaring it or getting at it, plus they can become so frightened that they injure themselves by crashing around inside the trap. You would bait it with apple, pear, banana, etc. You are also liable to catch possums or raccoons in the trap.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Ditto, tobyluv. This is a very bad situation. I really hope you guys can pull together and rescue these poor babies.

Do you know if there are any rabbit rescues in your area? If you don’t know, tell us you’re general area. We may be able to find one. They would most likely have people experienced in these situations.

My one experience catching a stray rabbit was with a terrified baby. I tried for days to get him to come to me and eventually had to resort to getting as close as I could and throwing a blanket over him. Traumatic for the bunny but better than the alternative dangers out there.

[Lisa]

They are very skittish bunnies even the parents, I have not been able to get even close to throw a blanket over them. I don’t think they are terrified though. I just got home and pulled my car into the garage and my husband said one was just laying next a tree for like a hour and another one was just hopping around the yard near the other one. So I took a couple steps onto my driveway and still was at least 50 feet from them and they bolted.

I checked in my area on the internet and did not find any rescues or people who do this sort of thing. I live in Boise, Idaho if anyone has any information. My only experiencing in rescuing animals is dogs. Any help would be great. I completely agree these need to be rescued but it seems like a huge job I will have to talk to some people in the neighborhood to possibly help out.

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