Journals
Saturday,Jun 2 2007, 03:34:13 PMWorking with Wildlife
Very few of you know that I volunteer with wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. My specialty is wild rabbits. Baby rabbits that are orphaned or separated from their mother usually find their way into my home during the Spring and Summer months.
Yesterday, we got another one. This one is about 3 weeks old and fits in the palm of my hand. While it can eat some solid food of grass and hay, it still needs a very special formula to replace its mother's milk. Baby rabbits are similar to baby humans: they need to eat frequently, they need fresh bedding regularly, and they require a lot of time and energy. So I got up very early this morning to feed it some formula.
For those of you who think that caring for wild rabbits is the same as caring for domesticated rabbits - you are very wrong! The two species are so very different! Many people who find baby wild rabbits outside, assume the mother is gone, and bring the rabbits inside their home to care for them usually end up killing the rabbit without ever knowing why the rabbit died. Sometimes the rabbit may live and the people will put it back outside, but then most of these rabbits will die either because they released it too soon, because the people did not put the rabbit in a safe enough place outside, or because the people did not "teach" the rabbit how to avoid predators before releasing it.
Mother rabbits only visit the nest 2 or 3 times in day, and they only go to their babies when it is dark outside or when no one is around. Otherwise, they may lead a potential predator to their babies. This is why it is best to leave baby wildlife alone unless we know for a fact that the mother is dead. Truly orphaned wildlife should only be cared for only by professional, certified, and liscensed wildlife rescuers and rehabilitators.
This rabbit we got yesterday survived a cat attack, which is very rare. No injuries or broken skin or bones could be found at all. This one will most likely survive, and I will have to teach it many things before releasing it, such as how to avoid predators like cats. (I wish people would not let their cats and dogs roam freely outdoors!!!)
I will have a lot of work to do with this one, but it will be my pleasure...
