It has been raining cats and dogs (bunnies?) here for the past couple of days. Today it's cold, damp, windy, dreary and we might get snowflakes later today. Yesterday, my husband took our dog out in the backyard and a mom rabbit ran off. It's actually good she did, because we found her 5 baby bunnies in a hole full of very cold water. We're shocked they were still alive. We took them in the house and warmed them up with towels and a heating pad. Internet sources said to put them in a new hole close to the old one. So we dug a new hole under a big pine tree, put a dry washcloth in the bottom of the hole and replaced the babies. We hoped the tree would keep them dry overnight. It rained all night and I worried about them constantly. The tree was close to the neighbor's yard behind us, where the mom rabbit ran, so we were hoping she'd find her babies. After much research, we learned that wild rabbits feed their young only at dusk and at dawn. This morning they were out there, very wet, stiff and cold.
We didn't think they were even alive. We felt terrible. We quickly brought them in, put them in towels and warmed them up with a heating pad. They started moving around and making little squeaks. All five were still alive! I searched the internet again and found a rescue lady in a nearby city and I called her. She agreed to take them. We took them over to her this morning. She said very young rabbits like these recover better from hypothermia than older ones and are a little easier to feed. She advised that people should NOT try to feed them because they are very hard to feed (even for experienced rescue people) and they tend to choke easily. We had bought goat's milk (advice from pet shop employee) last night in case we were going to try to feed them. The rescue lady said she was one step ahead in saving them because I hadn't fed them. Goat's milk is not what you feed bunnies, either!
We hope they all make it!
