# a rescued wild jackrabbit can be quite loving!



## timetowaste

i want to know what you think. this man saved this sickly little female bunny, but some people are up in arms over him keeping a wild bun as a pet. 

i want bo b bunny to come here and respond to this! isn't cloverbunny a former wild bun?

tracy




http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_7899842

How Rascal the rabbit became part of Tiburon family











IT HAS BEEN an interesting and surprisingly domestic life for Rascal, a wild jack rabbit that has become the pet of a Tiburon family. "I never would have thought you could get to know a wild jack rabbit," said Leanne Sindell, who works in publishing with her husband, Ger. "It's amazing."

Rascal's story began eight years ago when the Sindell's son, Max, and their dog, Tesla, a German shorthaired pointer, came across a sickly, female jack rabbit that was wobbling in the brush near Ridge Road in Tiburon. 

Max went home and got dad.

"I went up there with a towel and there was this poor jack rabbit kind of hobbling along sideways," Ger Sindell recalled. "I brought it home thinking it wouldn't live longer than two hours."

Eight years later, Rascal is alive and doing well, and has become a big part of the Sindell family.

Max named the rabbit after Bugs Bunny, whose cartoon sidekick Elmer Fudd often called him a "rascally rabbit."

Even though it was away from predators, like hawks, and was getting treated like a queen, the rabbit didn't exactly take to its human housemates.

"For the first few years, she would never let anyone pick her up," Ger said. "So at the end of the day, when she was done hopping around on the rug in my office, I would build a little tunnel of books to the cage. She really became tame only in the last three years. She became OK with us and realized we weren't going to eat her." Family friends and visitors are alternately fascinated or oddly uninterested by the presence of a wild jack rabbit in the family home.

"Some people come over and they notice a jack rabbit on the floor and they have this astonished reaction, but others are so self-involved, they don't even know," Ger Sindell said. "They think it's a dog or cat, I guess."

As Ger and Rascal posed for pictures, the rabbit nuzzled its owner while Ger cradled the animal in his arms.

"She has changed a lot and she has become more loving and more like a little baby. She was never mean, just wild," said Leanne Sindell, who sketched Rascal into the family Christmas card this year.

Ger Sindell is astonished at how Rascal's tale unfolded.

"I have never heard of a domesticated jack rabbit. It's amazing how she has adapted," he said with a smile.

The rabbit gets two visits a year from a veterinarian and is fed a diet of cantaloupe, banana, herbs and dandelion greens. The animal already has outlived its life expectancy of five years. Rascal once got surgery for an impacted tooth.

Her relationship with Tesla, while not close, is one of live and let live.

And Rascal is a bit of a music fan, developing a taste for Rachmaninov.

"She melts when she hears good music," said Leanne Sindell, who adds that she and her husband no longer have the stomach to dine on rabbit in restaurants.

Rascal is not as spry as she once was, and has trouble standing sometimes, but she still exhibits quick reflexes as she shoots into her cage.

While Rascal has found a cozy home with the Sindells, Cindy Machado, animal care specialist with the Marin Humane Society, advises wild animals should not be domesticated.

"Wild animals need to stay wild," she said. "If someone finds a wild animal, it's best to bring it to us or WildCare," she said, referring to the San Rafael wildlife rehabilitation center. 

But Leanne Sindell said the presence of Rascal has given the couple a new perspective on animals.

"We have discussions on whether animals have souls and wonder if you believe in heaven, do they go to heaven? I was taught animals don't have souls and don't go to heaven and I have definitely changed my mind.

"There is a little sp(i)rit in there."

Contact Mark Prado via e-mail at [email protected]


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## Bo B Bunny

I think that the best thing to do is to rehab and release. Try to not imprint them.

My mom raised 7 cottontails and released them several years ago.

Clover is a special situation. She has a splayed leg - from the hip - she got it injured when my sister's dog grabbed her. She had a puncture wound and I honestly didn't think she would live. 

I kept her calm and safe in a quiet part of the house. She did very well but one day I saw she had a big gaping place on the back of her leg..... it turned out that the abcess from her wound had traveled the length of that leg. With closer inspection I found it was healed skin but still a bit raw. I put neosporin on it after consulting with some bunny friends and she continued to get better.

I have attempted to get her leg fixed with the results being "just put the thing out of its misery" type answers. 

Clover is not miserable. She's crippled in one leg. Not that anyone would really know to watch her binky and play! I know that she would not be fast enough or healthy enough to be outside in the wild. She's also a bit too domesticated. She likes my dog and cat. 

She and I fought too hard to keep her alive to subject her to that. Had she not had the problem with her leg, she would have been kept away from everyone other than feeding and as soon as she was eating solids I would have released her.

Hazel is another wild bunny here. They got her as a tiny one as well and she became so domesticated - I know they could never have released her. She's a big baby!

So, my take is that it totally depends on each situation with bunnies.

in addition: Reading Rascal's story - she had something wrong. I think they did what was best for her. She's very old and sounds like she's not going to be around much longer - that's so sad 

wild rabbits can carry a disease that is very bad if we get it. It's a disease that is actually transmitted through a dead carcass. That is a big issue with people not wanting others to keep wild rabbits.


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## timetowaste

WOW you responded fast! thank you!!!

i'm glad you posted, this is why i wanted you to. i figured you, out of most of the forum members, would be the most knowledgeable about raising a wild bunny. 

thanks again!

tracy


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## Bo B Bunny

no problem. There are a lot of people who have rehabbed here, but only a handful of us have actually kept the wild rabbit. 

This is a very interesting story tho. She looks so scruffy - are all jackrabbits like that? She looks like that man too! LOL!


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## timetowaste

around here, we have cottontails. some jackrabbits, but the ones here are so much smaller than that one in the picture.

YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY....the pet almost always looks like the OWNER! 

tracy


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## pamnock

[align=left]Itshouldbe notedthat it is against the law in most states to keep a native wild animal in your possession if you do not have the proper permits and licenses - even if you plan to release the animal![/align]

[align=left]For this reason, we should not promote the activity for both the safety of the animals as well as the safety of humans.[/align]

[align=left]Pam[/align]

[align=left][/align]

[align=center][/align]


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## Bo B Bunny

*pamnock wrote: *


> [align=left]Itshouldbe notedthat it is against the law in most states to keep a native wild animal in your possession if you do not have the proper permits and licenses - even if you plan to release the animal!
> 
> [/align]
> 
> [align=left]For this reason, we should not promote the activity for both the safety of the animals as well as the safety of humans.[/align]


Definitely agreed.

Knowing what I know now, I would probably have taken Clover to a rehab.


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## TreasuredFriend

Thanks for posting this news wire. As a former cottontail rehabber (now focusing on domestic rescue) I read with intense interest. You are right, tracy, that man and his lucky jackrabbit do look alike. LOL.

Grateful for those who have compassion to assist. A percentage of humans you encounter would say an animal ain't worth a darn,


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## TreasuredFriend

My MIL's cat catches wild rabbits and brings them indoor to play with. They've already been punctured by teeth which is a death sentence due to toxic bacteria. My MIL views them as "OMG its a baby wild rabbit" or they've been bloodied, gets hyper and uses a broom to swat them across the floor and OUT the door. Helpless baby cottontail vs. large cat w/predator hunting drive. 

A wildlife rescue and transport experience: Caller didn't want to pick up cottontail construeing the e/c would have rabies. Definately, it is good to know the dangers of handling a wild animal yet armed with knowledge on wildlife and animal care we won't hesistate to properly help in a situation with cottontails. Quarantining for fleas, ticks, illnesses, et al. Washing hands with antibacterial soap and changing, laundering clothes later. 

Sorry to hijack the news wire with this last note. Karl and I will stop on the road, when safe, to take HBV (Hit By Vehicle) birds, mice, woodchucks, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits...from the main surface to shoulder. Same would apply for a hit domestic animal we can lift. Any animal that will not tear my skin or arm off. It kinda saddens me that most humans CARE NOT and ride over a hit creature on the bike trail. I carry gloves and plastic bags in my car.

This story brightened my day, tracy and all. Thanks for adding to the Wire. 

Great to see the pictures ~ and educate!

Vote: I think he did the right thing.


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## MsBinky

Hmmm tough call...

I'm all for rehab... Hands down.

However, this bun was clearly not well and it doesn't seem like the poor girl was ever 100%. If I had the choice of retunring a bunny to a certain death or keeping it safe and trying to provide it with some happiness I would go for the latter.

If I had to keep one though, I'd make sure to provide it with a huge huge hutch and not keep it inside. But then again, I guess it would feel worse because it'd be trapped in.

Sometimes you have to wonder if the animal is really ever happy, if it can't be rehabbed, maybe it is best that it be peacefully put to sleep. I dunno. I don't have a clear opinion on this. Lol.


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## BlueCamasRabbitry

BBB, what is the disease that wild jack rabbits can transfer through their dead bodies too humans? How bad is this disease if a human were to get it?

Emily & Magic


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## Bo B Bunny

Tularemia (Rabbit Fever) Hunters are told to be very careful when handling rabbits' carcass.

CDC page on Tularemia


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## Becknutt

She does look as though shes not 100%, but that may be because she's getting old. I don't know. Its hard to say without knowing the entire story if they did the right thing or not. It could be that she was not able to be returned to the wild, the article never actually stated what her ailment was or possibly still is. As for her truely being happy or not, who can say. It's sounds to me like she's had a good life with the family.


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## Bo B Bunny

Yeah, Clover isn't maybe as happy as she could have been as a wild rabbit, but if she were turned out - most likely she wouldn't be alive either.

She's happy enough tho. She's so funny! if I can ever get video of her bunny 500, binkies and all that...... you'll see she's ok. She loves to be petted but she's afraid too.


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## MsBinky

Yeah that's true. 

I certainly wouldn't say Clover is miserable! Lol.


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## NZminilops

As long as the bunny is happy, it's a cool story.

I know of a few people who have found baby wild rabbits (the kind of rabbits that our modern day ones are decended from, not hares) and raised them. It's legla here as long as you don't breed from them as far as I know. I think vets will even desex them but I'm not too sure.


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## Pipp

*Bo B Bunny wrote: *


> Yeah, Clover isn't maybe as happy as she could have been as a wild rabbit, but if she were turned out - most likely she wouldn't be alive either.


I'm always on the bad side of rehabbers for saying this... but while I would (obviously) strongly discourage people from bringing wild rabbits home and/or thinking they could bepets, I'm less inclined to release than most. Rabbits in the wild don't have a life expectancy of five years, I believe the correct figure is 11 months. :shock:

I really don't think Clover wouldhave been happier in the wild-- although equally happy may be likely -- because she'd never in her lifetime be able to relax and eat and play. The predator watch has to beconstant, the food supply can be ifffy. I can't imagine that being lessstressful than having toquellherinstincts whilebeing cared for by predators (in her mind).

Muchdepends on the rabbit, they really are individuals. Onewild bunny may end up crashing into wallsor having heart failure, another may be much more receptive to 'the good life', although it's highly unlikely they'll ever truly enjoy human company. 

The biggest issues for me arethe disease aspects andthe extremely low survival rate of wild babies that are taken in byhumans,non-rehabbers in particular. 

I'd never pick up a wild rabbit and take it home, but I'd also be pretty reluctant to release one Inursed back to health that appeared to be adapting. I'd be thinking I'm feeding him/her to the wolves. 

sas :twocents


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## Bo B Bunny

Exactly Pipp! It's a tough call. 

Hazel-Mom has Hazel and she's as domesticated as they get! She's a western cottontail.

I have chosen to not attempt to bond Clover and Bo. I worry about her getting injured or something. She's fine - so is he - We might put their cages next to each other and they can be bonded through the bars LOL!


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## Hazel-Mom

Yes, Hazel is definately a happy Cottontail . She has always been loveing though, we always attribute that to the fact that she was only 3 weeks old or so when we rescued her, and we have always handled her from the beginning. We quickly became her "family", and she is happy with that. She loves us, she loves "Her" house, she even loves her carpet more than the grass outside LOL.
She doesn't love White Chocolate much, though :biggrin2:. But she tried, in the beginning, even trying to groom Chocolate. Well, untill "The White Thing" started spraying her and tried to hump her :disgust:, she didn't like that at all. Though they have come to some sort of understanding now, as long as Chocolate is on her side of the gates, or on her Mommy's lap.
She'll even allow White Chocolate to run around on the sofa, but NOT on her floor, on certainly not around HER Christmas tree :biggrin2:.
Anyway, we could never have released her after her leg was healed, she was far too bonded to us, and we to her. She was also far too trusting, and would never have survived outside.
She even trusts strangers, our vet loves her and how calm she is .


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## lalena2148

In that first photo, does it look like she's blind? She definitely seems to have a sight issue. It's probably just because she's older now.

I totally believe in rehabbing, but since she was so sickly, the odds of her being well enough to bounce back and be healthy enough to survive in the wild were probably small at best. She still looks sickly...poor thing.


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## PixieStixxxx

I used to be with a wildlife rehabilitation centre. Usually about half the animals who come in are euthanized within 5 min. I guess that's why I left, because I'm into rehabilitating domesticated animals.. not wild, where you always have to ask yourself "How long would treatment be, and would this amount of time potentially imprint the animal. Would this injury cause them to be easy prey in the wild".


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## ZakuraRabbit

My teacher told me she once had a "pet" hare. 
Someone had brought it to her thinking it had been abounded (since hares tend to leave their kits alone for most of the day) and she handraised him.
He was absolutely terrified of anything that reminded of the wild:shock: When he was young she decided to put some wild plants into his cage and he freaked out:shock: Oddball... So he lived with them for the rest of his life


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