# Rescued Eastern Cottontail



## BouncingBunnyBrunswick (Jul 12, 2009)

I guess this story is kind of long...

So one day, I was sitting inside and suddenly heard this horrible screaming. This noise freaked out the dog I was babysitting so severely that he started screaming himself. So I go outside to see where the shrieks were coming from. Turns out the local killer cat had found a baby bunny. It was trying to limp away from the cat, mouth agape, and was just screaming, screaming, and screaming. I could see that it was probably mortally wounded and the cat was just toying with it. So I take a step towards the grim spectral, knowing that once I did the cat would greedily chop down on his kill and be done with it. It worked, the cat cracked the poor thing's skull with the dog was just spinning and whining all the while. 

I go back inside to comfort the traumatized pooch and play on the internet. A few hours later, the dog started screaming and spinning again. I didn't hear anything, but I could guess as to the cause. I go outside and see that the cat has discovered another baby bunny. This one was hunkered down in the grass and every time the cat prodded it with his paw, she would let out a plaintive shriek. Mainly out of concern for the high-strung pooch, I go and scoop up the poor animal. 

That was on June 1st. I guessed that the wee little one was around 3 weeks old since she took to solid food right away. She seemed fine after her encounter with the cat, I guess he was still full from having just eaten her sibling. I couldn't find the nest (not that I would really want her to be outside just to be eaten by the cat later) and the neighbors destroyed a large portion of the underbrush erecting a fence. So now, over a month later, I have a wild house rabbit dubbed Brunswick living in my apartment. She's fully litterbox trained and doesn't have a cage per say... she just lives in my bathroom when I'm not around, but has full run of my apartment otherwise. She spends her days snoozing all stretched out under a pile of Kozo sticks I have in the corner. She gets all excited when I get my bath in the evening, and spends the rest of the night binking on my pile of dirty clothes, finding boxes to explore, zooming around the apartment, and crawling over my legs. She's really alert and curious and seems to be pleased with her situtation. My question is: is this at all a good thing? Will she survive in the wild when she reaches adulthood? Have I altered her behavior too much or will instinct kick in?

On a side note: my friend that owns the pooch already has an older male cottontail from a previous cat encounter (which is why they didn't want a female). This guy was chewed on a bit and had vet attention. He's fine now, and it seems like there is little concern about keeping these guys... guess it's because the area is a bunny mecca....
:bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance: <~ (rabbits doing the bunny mecca dance)

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks a bunch!



ACK! Brunswick is spyin' on me from BEHIND THE LAPTOP!!!! (she knows I'm talking about her)


----------



## Pipp (Jul 12, 2009)

Wow, that's one lucky bunny. Surviving cat bacteria alone is amazing. 

Sorry for asking, but you're absolutely sure s/he's a cottontail? Not an agouti domestic? Odd behaviour for a cottontail! 

Bo B Bunny is going to love this thread, she rescued her little Clover gir... er... boy... er... we're not sure (after what, three years? LOL!) 

And HazelsMom has Hazel. 

I'm usually against the majority on this issue, but IMO, you've got yourself a rabbit for life. Most will say turn her loose, wild rabbits are NOT pets -- but she sure sounds like a pet to me, and the life expectancy of a rabbit in the wild is all of 11 months (or was it nine?) And nervous months at that! 

I'd never condone taking in a baby in the first place unless injured, but you saved her life and now that you're got her... well, you've got her. It would be cruel to put her back out there to brave the elements, especially with those bad memories she's no doubt harbouring. 


That my :twocents

Welcome to RO! :welcome1

sas :bunnydance:


----------



## jamesedwardwaller (Jul 12, 2009)

if possible post a picture of this little guy,,pipp might be right about the behavior,..seems mighty tame,,.i raised my cottontail from 6 days old-born easter 4-14-06,.now over 3 years old,,he is strickly nocturnal/8pm-8am/prefers seclusion,,used to bite me /draw blood,now he just nibbles and still gives me kisses on the nose--he is my best little buddy,.weighs over kilo/2.2#/probably 2.6-2.8#,..i have read in the wild life expectancy is average of 18 mon.,..what you have is a definite keeper cotton tail or not,..happy binky,s/.sincerely james waller


----------



## peppa and georgie (Jul 12, 2009)

Yes i am with pipp what a lovely story (apart from the bunny that died and everything) i think she has chosen you to be her mummy and is very happy and i guess you are very happy with the situation so i would keep it that way. xx If she was scared or not settled or something it might be a worry but she is having a great and safe life with you so why change thatxxx But can we see some pics???????


----------



## BouncingBunnyBrunswick (Jul 12, 2009)

Well, I don't have any recent pics of her since my camera is dead... but here are some grainy phone pics from when she was a wee little Bruns-bun. The big guy next to her is another cat-attacked cottontail.


----------



## peppa and georgie (Jul 12, 2009)

Arrr they are really cute pics xx


----------



## Jerry in So IL (Jul 15, 2009)

Between me and another rabbit slave, we raise up about three to four cottontails a year. Mostly in the spring, they are found by neighbors digging up gardens. We live in a subdivision on the edge of town and have allot of wild rabbits running around. Also have allot of coyotes, but I'm been trapping them when I can.

Anyways, IMHO of an unprofessional, uneducated wild animal expert (animal meaning rabbits or birds falling from their nest!) It depends on the age of the bunny, when discovered, if you can make a pet out of it. The younger the better, of course. My friend's aunt has a pair of cottontails that lived with her for about seven years! I still have a few cottontails the I released in my fenced in backyard and then returned to the wild of my neighborhood the will come up to me! But they are few and far between. On the norm, the cottontail is too nervous to keep indoors.

Jerry


----------



## Saudade (Jul 15, 2009)

I wonder if the rabbit's behaviour towards you is because you saved it?


----------



## BouncingBunnyBrunswick (Jul 16, 2009)

I don't know why she's friendly. I think curiosity just gets the best of her. Now, she does NOT like being held or petted, and she's running around this morning like I betrayed her terribly since I thought some cuddling might do her some good. ACK! She's sneaking up on me and tickling me with her whiskers!!! Glad she gets over betrayal quickly :rolls eyes:. Should I continue picking her up and petting her or should i go back to my previous passive role as not to stress her too much? She is a BLAST to watch! Her favorite thing right now is a multistory cardboard castle I made her with lots of little rooms and tubes. She binks all around it, through it, and has decided that it is the BEST place to sleep! :sniff: I loves this little girl with the big personality!


----------



## Flashy (Jul 16, 2009)

I have a guy called Roger who is a domestic but was turned lose as a baby and so is essentially wild now he is back in captivity.

I think you follow her lead and go with what is comfortable for her. If she doesn't like handling or petting, that's ok (and actually, very common in rabbits because they are a prey species, those that like cuddles are the rarer ones), don't push it apart from when its necessary (nail clipping, etc) but do build her trust in other ways, like getting her hand feeding from you, things like that.

I love the sotry though, it's really so sweet that you managed to save this little one.


----------



## tonyshuman (Jul 16, 2009)

First of all, good on ya for saving her, as our friends the Aussies say. However, there are laws that vary depending on where you are, but in most of the US, it's illegal to keep a wild rabbit without being a licensed wildlife rehabber. I don't think you should release her, because I am sure she is too tame at this point to survive well in the wild. She doesn't know the behaviors her mom would have taught her to keep her out of trouble, and I don't think she'd make it long outside. It's best for you to keep her.

However, you may want to keep that in mind when you go to a vet--I know Bo B Bunny has some difficulty getting vet care for her cottontail Clover because her vet sees black and white on the wildlife as pets law. Since your neighbors know of a vet that will treat wild pets, that should be fine. If she is a girl, it may be good to get her spayed once she is old enough, since uterine cancer is very common in rabbits that are unspayed as they get older. I know Clover wasn't spayed/neutered (just recently had a visit from the gender fairy, so I'm still not sure what to say), and I think a member on the west coast had a wild bunny that wasn't spayed (Hazelmom's Hazel). It's not absolutely necessary, but if it were my bunny, I'd look into getting it de-sexed.

In the future, if this happens again, the best thing to do for the rabbit is to get them to a wildlife rehabber who can treat them for cat wounds (which are really dangerous, so I'm very glad she made it!) and raise them properly so that they can be released back into the wild once they recover.

Her baby pics are so adorable! There were a few of those near my apt this spring--so sweet and little.


----------



## Hazel-Mom (Jul 16, 2009)

Hazel IS spayed. We spayed her when she was 2, because she started showing signs of Pyometria (sp. ?)

Never had problems wit the spay, or vet care. Though it is technically also illegal in California, our vet just loves Hazel, and wouldn't turn her in, or put her out .
She is very tame, anyway, and would never have survived in the wild.
We've had her since she was about 3 weeks old, also a rescue. She had a broken leg, and couldn't run. By the time she was healed, she was family


----------



## tonyshuman (Jul 17, 2009)

Oh, I'm sorry. It's hard for me to keep everybody straight. I'm glad you've found a sympathetic vet.


----------



## BouncingBunnyBrunswick (Jul 24, 2009)

Brunswick was being extra binky when I got home today... probably because I FINALLY fixed my internet so she can watch shows again! lol! Anyways, here's some dramatic footage of her being hyper: zooming under my legs and climbing the treacherous Mt. Backpack. Unfortunately, these were the only non-blurry pics. She's getting so big! So, is she a cottontail or do I have myself a feral?


[URL=http://img31.imageshack.us/i/brunswickjuly.jpg/]


[/url]


----------



## CKGS (Jul 24, 2009)

To me that does not look like a cottontail but I could be wrong..


----------



## Bo B Bunny (Jul 24, 2009)

I'd love to see better photos of her. Clover is very tiny and has little skinny and delicate feet.


----------



## Spring (Jul 25, 2009)

Looks like a cottontail to me! Here are some pictures of a few of the wild (but very friendly for some reason, extremely curious) rabbits that live in our yard. I live in western Bitish Columbia, so may not be the same type of rabbit depending on your area. I try to keep the yard as safe as possible for wildlife and have been known to hiss at and scare away neighbour cats so they don't come in the yard and stalk the birds and bunnies! No way am I going to have a bratty cat killing wildlife in my yard at least!


----------



## BouncingBunnyBrunswick (Jul 26, 2009)

I've been trying to get a super cute pic of my little rescue, but she mocks all my attempts. Here's her thumbing her furry nose at me by devouring my camera case. Enjoy.


----------



## BouncingBunnyBrunswick (Jul 27, 2009)

Ahh.... Brunswick will apparently will be cute if she figures out that I'm eating a salad on the floor. Here she is searching out some noms....

She does look like a cottontail, doesn't she?


----------



## fuzz16 (Jul 27, 2009)

her head seems really...flat at the top. maybe cause shes young though. 

she does look pretty cottontailish to me though. 
and IMHO i have taken in babies that were attacked by my cat and i would see nothing wrong with keeping one if it survived and couldnt be released back because age or injury.


----------



## BouncingBunnyBrunswick (Jul 27, 2009)

Ok... now you got me curious. A flat head is an indicator of what? Oh, another quick question that I couldn't figure out the answer to even with the wise and vast internets: can cottontails crossbreed with domesticated rabbits? On a side note, Brunswick's population does live on an island with loads of very rare black grey squirrels... maybe theres more bunny oddity going on there than we know. :biggrin2:


----------



## fuzz16 (Jul 27, 2009)

well yes rabbits can all breed together, and domestics came from wild rabbits. so could be a mix. and just for a wild rabbit her head seems flat along the top, like not paralell to ground flat but just a line with no bone structure...if that makes sense. 
i dont know if thats common for wild rabbits, i dont think i ever see them with that around here


----------



## tonyshuman (Jul 27, 2009)

It looks like the cottontails we have around here--a flatter top of the head. The US wild rabbits actually aren't the same breed as domesticated rabbits. Rabbits were domesticated in Europe from the European wild rabbit, which is a slightly different species. Some say that it's impossible for domesticated rabbits to interbreed with the cottontails we have here in the US, but others will say it's possible but very rare. I think she looks pure cottontail to me.


----------

