Baby Bunnies :(

The blackberries are delicious right now. It was a late harvest, but they are now juicy and sweet. I decided to pick a bucket full when I got home from work today. I set out with my bucket, happy as a clam, listening to music, my dog running around joyously. That was until she sniffed out some baby bunnies.

I had never heard a bunny scream until that moment.

My husband had warned me that a couple of months ago our dog, Kita, found and ate a few baby bunnies. He was able to rescue one, but the others were goners. "One-bite snacks" as he said.

I suppose this notion was in the back of my mind when I heard the scream. I turned and there was my dog, tail wagging, staring at the ground. I told her off and rushed toward the sound. I saw the thing on the ground and couldn't tell what it was. At first I thought it was a rat, and if it were, I would have nothing to do with it. It didn't take much longer for me to realize it was a bunny. I quickly swooped it up so my curious dog wouldn't bother it anymore. It immediately calmed down, but I noticed a bite mark in its side with dried blood. The mark was too small to be my dog's, the blood to dry to be fresh, but I didn't know for sure, so I went and sat down with it cuddled against my stomach. Then I heard another scream. There was another one! I swooped up that one as well as I noticed a third crawl off somewhere. by the time I was able to grab the third, I couldn't find him. I looked all around for him without any luck. I cuddled them both to me and wondered what I should do. I looked at their injuries: the second one appeared to have a few holes in his head, one eye swollen shut, and a broken foot. I pondered the following:

1. Could I keep them and nurse them back to health?
           ~ but how old are they? are they old enough not to eat milk?
           ~ can I take them somewhere? where to take them?
           ~ should I find their nest and put them back?

I looked for things online. Most sites said DO NOT TRY TO REHABILITATE THEM YOURSELF. But I didn't know where I could bring them. I thought maybe I could put them back in their nest and they would heal on their own. But their wounds were pretty deep. The first one had a hole on his side that revealed something white, probably an intestine?

I started looking again for the nest, and found it. It was in rough shape, so I decided to try and build a new one and leave them there for the mom. As I was building the new nest, I saw the third one. I checked to see if it was breathing, but it wasn't. I picked him up and put him on a rock to see if I could tell how he died. He had blood on him, but not the puncture marks like the other ones did. I thought: If only I had gotten him first! He may not have died! Then I saw a white maggot-like thing crawl from out of his side and then crawl back in. Even if I had gotten to him first, and he didn't die, it wouldn't have been long until he did.

I eventually found a place called Critter Care Wildlife Society, and brought them the bunnies. The wounds were at least a day old, the person there told me, and it looked like cat bites. It was a relief to know that it wasn't my dog that had gotten them. If it weren't for Kita, I wouldn't have found them, and they surely would have died there. They may still die, but at least they have a better chance at survival now than before.

You may be thinking: So what? They're just bunnies. Bunnies reproduce at a rapid rate. If you wouldn't have found them they would have died anyway, so why rescue them? Besides that, they're wild and won't last long before they're eaten by a coyote anyway.

#2 (horizontal) I have less hope for this little one, but he was still struggling to live. He liked to hide his head in my fingers.

#1 I have much hope for this one. Clean the wound and a little sew job and this guy should be on his way. He was so cute, he would nuzzle me.

But I couldn't do that. My heart would never let me. I can only hope that they recover and grow up into big, healthy bunnies.