Rabbit nest and baby rabbits.
There is a rabbit nest at my parent's house. There are 8 baby rabbits inside. They are still very young. My brother and I are keeping an eye on them, but the mother rabbit seems to be doing a good job of caring for them. Her choice of location for her nest leaves something to be desired, though. It is up against a tree and right next to the chain link fence that separates my parent's yard from their neighbor's yard. Their neighbor has a dog that has been trying to get at the nest so we had to put a board up to keep him away. We initially tried to take the babies to a wildlife rehab center nearby so they would be safer, but the vet there said the babies were too young for them to take proper care of and that their best chance was with their mother. So we put the babies back in the nest and protected it from the dog. From what my brother has told me it seems like the mother is still caring for them, so that is good. I don't have any pictures, unfortunately. Maybe I can get some later...
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These are eastern cottontail rabbits. They typically do not dig tunnels in the ground (for any reason). They make nests for their young which are just shallow holes in the ground usually about the size and shape of a navel orange or a fist. The babies huddle together in these holes to keep warm. The mother also pulls out some of her fur to cover and insulate the nest and will often use nearby grasses or plant debris to cover it as well. She does not stay close to the nest most of the time either. She will usually be out foraging and make several visits, usually during the morning and evening, to feed the babies. Though cottontail rabbits can be active at any hour, I think most of them are primarily active at night. These particular babies still have their eyes closed and, when I first saw them on Friday, they barely had any fur at all. They must grow pretty quickly...
Gotta watch out for those cotton tail rabbits.
Well President Jimmy Carter sure had to. Here's a little minute n half clip.
todayingeorgiahistory.org/content/jimmy-carter-rabbit-episode
@lolien At least your lil critter does not look like General Woundwort from the film.
While I was there I saw an adult rabbit in the yard, which was most likely the mother. She ran off as I entered the yard but I am sure she will be back. It is pretty chilly right now and it will get worse tonight, dropping to about freezing. The wildlife center gave us a small heating pad to put inside thier nest, but I am sure it is out of heat by now. I may try to put a new heating pad in their nest for tonight.
I am a bit surprised how well momma has adjusted to the smell of humans in her nest. Some would get nervous and abandon the babies, but she obviously is fine with it as the babies are thriving.
Thank you for sharing this with us. Can’t wait to see them up and hopping around. I fully expect “cuteness overload”.
Anyway, I live in an urban/suburban area of a relatively large city. With so many people around, most animals are well accustomed to our presence. Not that they will come right up to us, but still, a human being in the area is not about to put them off.
As for getting pictures of them when they are older... I am hesitant to bother them once they get to a certain age. This is far from the first rabbit nest I have found, and is not even the first one that has been at that very spot (not sure what makes that tree such attractive real-estate to the rabbits...). I know that at a certain age if I pester the young they will likely just leave the nest and refuse to get back in for me.
By the way, I used to volunteer at the wildlife rehabilitation center I mentioned earlier. They had me take care of baby squirrels and rabbits. In the case of baby rabbits, people often bring them there even though it is completely unnecessary. I was told that many people will find the nest and assume the mother has abandoned them (even though she hasn't). If you find a rabbit nest, it is usually best just to leave the babies there unless they are in danger (I wouldn't have tried to move them if I wasn't worried about the neighbor's dog). The mother usually visits at a time of day when it isn't obvious to people that she is around (like mornings and evenings).
Hell, they look tasty to me and I only eat rabbit occasionally!
I presume they must be an important source of food in the wild... And that long list of carnivores just shows that there must be a plentiful supply of food lower down the food chain.
I know that you said that mother rabbits choice of nest site was poor... But I'm beginning to think it was genius...
...
Plus you now need to do a playthrough as a druid or a neutral wizard...
Rabbits, particularly young rabbits, can be eaten by foxes, hawks, owls, falcons, snakes of all sorts, bears, humans, dogs, cats, coyotes, wolves, bobcats, weasels, ferrets, mountain lions, badgers, wolverines, pumas, escaped tigers, feral pigs, chupacabras, Sasquatch, vegetarians who think no one is looking, Al Unser's car at the 1988 Indianapolis 500, homeless methheads in old Michael Vick jerseys, snapping turtles, and crocodilians. Truly, they are the chocolate covered peanuts of North America.
― Richard Adams, Watership Down
Bright eyes, burning like fire... How could the eyes that burned so brightly suddenly turn so pale... Bright eyes...
Good luck young rabbits... Wherever you are!