Raising Baby Cottontails Part 1: The Ladybug Chronicles

Hello and welcome to my blog and my 

nature journal called:

The Ladybug Chronicles.

 Much of the time, I am in awe of nature and it's beauty.

Do you ever find yourself just

standing at the window or by an open door

peering out at all of it's wonders?

I do. 

I am inspired by it's

vast colors and intrigued by it's workings.

The Master of our universe has left nothing

undone yet so much is a mystery!

I have been talking about these cute little bunnies for weeks now. 

Promising a post.

I had to get my videos and photos in order!

I really wish I would have kept a daily log

but most of their antics and progress have left their

little bunny tracks on my heart and in my head. 

 I do have quite a few photos. When I'm done remembering and

sharing them here, I'll have their sweet little lives on record.

Here begins the bunny tale.... (tail ;)

On Mother's Day, which was four weeks ago this past Sunday,

 we went for a walk in the canyon behind our house. 

Our property borders the National Forest Service

and we are so blessed to have this as our backyard playground.

Two of my daughters

The kids love this place for climbing..

AND sliding..

Wow.. while editing, I just noticed 

that Arizona blue sky! And the tree root

that is growing straight down through

that sandstone..

It was in a spot like this where the bunnies were found. 

Their little bunny burrow was found at the base of a tree 

(bush) very much like this. 

Our dog (we call her the best dog in the world)

found the little nest and stole a baby. 

At first we thought that they were gophers. 

She's always digging like a mad dog around those mounds.

We weren't sure what to do since she disturbed the nest.

So I started pulling the tiny little furry creatures out and

handing them off to family members.

There were three more in the nest and 

their eyes weren't even open. 

We tucked them together in a sweatshirt and carried them home.

I was wishing that I had left them alone and taken our chances with the mother rabbit. When we arrived home, 

my daughter did some online research. (she's

such an animal lover) and it said that a mother would come

back even if the nest was disturbed and so 

she and my husband took them back.

The article said to place some small twigs and criss cross them 

across the burrow hole and check it the next day. If the mother came back, the sticks would be moved. 

(We thought they were Jack Rabbits but 

quickly learned that they were Cottontails.

Jack Rabbits put each little kit in

 a different place to protect them

from predators. Cottontails

keep all of theirs in a burrow.)

So we took them back and fixed the sticks

like we read to do and waited until late morning 

the next day. We didn't want to wait

 too long because they had already

been without food for awhile. We read that the 

mother rabbit doesn't stay at the nest, 

she only visits once or twice a 

day to feed her little ones. When we

went to check, we were very disappointed

to find that the nest was undisturbed.

We decided to bring them home and prayerfully

try our hand at feeding them.

We felt so badly for the mama rabbit.

Poor thing was probably beside herself wondering what

 happened to her happy little home.

And on Mother's Day.

It was a little traumatic for us all.

Even thought they are just rabbits,

but did you know that animals grieve?

I felt like such a heel and wished that I'd never interfered.

Even though our Liberty disturbed the nest,

she maybe would have hardly noticed that one was missing.

Anyway.. there we were,

setting out with these three furry, sweet

kits, to try to save their little lives.

Rin Tin Tin! No.. it's actually our sweet dog, Liberty...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*******************************************

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ok! 

Close your eyes! 

Are you ready for the absolutely adorable,

 CUTENESS?!?!?!

 A pile of bunnies in a little red basket! 

They were so thin when we carried them home

but that didn't last for long.

They must be some of the chubbiest 

(I guess that's a word..) 

 bunnies around! 

A bunny in my robe pocket :)

Hello??

Oh my GOODNESS!! 

this picture is one of my favorites..

I'll call it ....

~AFTER BREAKFAST~

This is what they all looked like after they ate.

PURE BUNNY BLISS!

 We named them all.. this must be little Eyore..

because it's head is bigger than it's ears are long and it 

looked like a baby burro!

Does that look like a happy bunny to you?

This one has a tiny white spot on it's head. 

Sweet! And ate like a little piggy.

Doesn't he look like he's going to gobble that syringe right up?

His name is Piglet.. 

Haha!

 Over-feeding is a concern when they are very 

small so we were careful to keep

feeling their little tummies so they didn't get too tight and full.

Especially since they had missed a day or so of feedings.

 Up until their eyes open, they need massaging around their bellies and genital areas. This helps with circulation and digestion.

 Awww..

Licking my hand..

That is just the most precious feeling.

 Scramble kids! 

Once their eyes are opened, 

they begin to lick and clean each other.

It's so adorable to watch them taking care of each other.

We continued to massage them

also just to make sure they were getting

the stimulation they needed. It wasn't going to be

too much.

We brought the grass from their burrow for comfort. 

It turned out to be a really helpful thing that we did.

I'll share why in the next post.

We quickly changed to a glass dropper.

It was much easier for them to fit their

mouths and easier to control the 

amount that they drank at one time. 

There is a runt of course.. and she

(we didn't actually sex them)

was the slowest to take off, of course.

And sometimes we would have to feed her

twice a feeding to make sure that she got enough.

We named her Roo.

Even though Roo was a boy ;)

Eyore was very methodical in his eating..

 calm and quiet and very neat.

Piglet was all about getting as much as he could as 

fast as he could and making a mess in the process.

Isn't it just amazing that even little wild rabbits

have their own personalities?

This is what we bought to feed them. 

PetAg Kitten Milk Replacer.

It can be bought at most feed stores, some grocery 

stores and other stores where vet/animal

supplies are carried. We were so thankful

that we were able to find it in our remote little town!

That information was online as well.

Each bowl full was mixed with about 

a teaspoon of heavy whipping cream 

and 1/4  t. of plain yoghurt. 

It was then warmed in the microwave

to about body temperature. We keep the 

milk warm by putting it in a custard dish and then

setting that dish in a glass cereal bowl of very

hot water from the tea-kettle.

They only need fed twice a day which is

very manageable. I'm kind of glad for that.

As close as we could tell, they are a week to 10 days old
here. We figured this out from our online article that
said that they open their eyes between 7-10 days.

We aren't even sure if what we're doing is legal. 
Sometimes it's against the law to
keep wild animals. But we sure weren't going to 
leave them abandoned there. We did speak with
our neighbor who works for the
Game and Fish Dept. and he knows that 
our intention is to grow them up
until they're old enough to release and live
on their own. That age is about five to six weeks old. 

We are enjoying these little babies so much
and are so very thankful for the resources
that we've been using. I'd give credit to the sites 
we've used but I didn't do that part. But we 
appreciate it when folks share their knowledge
and experience with others. Maybe someday
this will help fellow bunny-raisers as well!
I hope so!

It has been such a blessing and a privilege to be a
part of this amazing cycle of life! To feel
their bunny softness and watch
their instincts come to life.


Well thank you so much for stopping by!
I hope you enjoyed reading about the
little bunny blessings that have gathered here!

There's always some reason to feel blessed..
Isn't there?

Take care...
Tamara xoxo