What follows is some very important information that we hope will be helpful to you if you find injured or orphaned wildlife.

To obtain a list of wildlife rehabilitators in New York State click on New York State Wildlife Rehabilitation Council. You may also want to try contacting your veterinarian - most vets provide the service of giving out a list of rehabbers in your area. There are other places that have a list of rehabbers, such as Beaver Lake Nature Center, and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Unfortunately we are not able to care for or give any advice on animals other than eastern cottontails. The following national link also provides general information about wildlife rehabilitation: The Wildlife Rehabilitation Information Directory

Each spring a few people call us and ask us to remove the nest of baby rabbits because they have to let their dog run in the back yard, it's the only exercise he gets, etc. We understand this - we have two dogs ourselves, a rottweiler and shepherd mix. However, we are not licensed to take animals because they are a "nuisance". In addition, it is not a wise use of resources to take bunnies who are not true orphans, because there is a shortage of wildlife rehabilitators, and bunnies without their mother should come first. It will take some extra effort to keep your domestic animal away from the nest, but it will only be for about 2 weeks. By the time you discover the nest, the babies are probably close to a week old, and they leave the nest at around 3-4 weeks old. People need to leave nature alone, rather than to take the babies away from their mothers. Rehabbers only have about a 30-50% chance with very small baby rabbits taken away from their mothers. It's been very sad for us to see some bunnies die, knowing that their mothers were probably still out looking for them.

We know that the mother rabbit may have picked a less than desirable or "smart" location to make the nest. We get calls from countless people who find a nest by their pool or under they deck. Unfortunately, rabbits have adapted very well to the suburbs that have expanded into their natural territory.

What if you're not sure if the mother is really returning? As we said earlier, you will not see the mother during the day. If you're concerned, and want to make sure that the mother is returning, we suggest taking four very long pieces of string. In early evening, place the string pieces over the nest in a tic-tac-toe design. If the string looks disturbed/rearranged in the morning, then the mother rabbit has likely returned. Make sure the string is long enough to show the disturbance, well over the sides of the nest. You can also check out the babies to see if they look active or lethargic, and consult with a wildlife rehabilitator who can advise on determing if the bunnies are dehydrated.

If you cannot reach a rehabber immediately, follow these instructions for feeding the bunny:

Click here for information on larger Bunnies With Eyes Opened
Click here for information on smaller Bunnies or those With Eyes Closed

Now see the section below to figure out the age of the bunny and how much to feed in the meantime.

Click her for description of Bunnies 3-6 days old
Click here for description of Bunnies 7-10 days old
Click here for description of Bunnies 10-14 days old
Click here for description of Bunnies 14-28 days old
Click here for description of Bunnies 4-5 weeks old

At this time, we are not recommending any particular formula for use by wildlife rehabilitators. Make sure that whatever formula you use is recommended for cottontails, as their needs are different than other animals.

-In many cases, refrigerated formula should be discarded 36-48 hours after initially made -Unused warmed formula should be discarded immediately.
-Use a probiotic gel such as Probiacin� or BeneBac� to help maintain gut environment, especially if on antibiotics.

Helpful Hints:

-When eyes open, supplement formula with greens: such as clover, dandelion leaves, romaine lettuce; fruit: such as banana, apple; small seeds, Gerber�s 1st� baby food - sweet potatoes (not carrots).
-Start feeding with 1cc or 3cc syringes, then change to larger as they grow older (10cc or 12cc).
-Place �huts� in cages to provide hiding places (� tissue box for indoor cage, wood huts for outdoor cage making sure there are openings on both sides of the wood huts so bunnies don't get squashed together in the huts).
-Wean at about 3-4 weeks old (as they�re weaning they will eat from syringes without being hand-held or they may drink from a shallow lid placed in cage).
-Combining small litters has not been a problem, if there is a large enough cage.
-Outdoor cage at 3-4 weeks old.
-Release at 4-5 weeks old (look for wooded areas with thickets or logs). May release at dawn or dusk, but we prefer dawn.

1) The mother rabbit does not stay with the nest during the day.

2) Keep a TRULY orphaned bunny in a warm, dry, dark quiet place. Keep other animals and especially children away from the bunny.

3) Even if you have handled the bunny, he can be put back in the nest - it is not true that the mother bunny will smell humans. But do not handle more than necessary - especially children - the stress can kill the bunny.

4) Injured animals need medical attention.

5) If you find a bunny as the size of a naval orange or bigger than a tennis ball, the bunny should be old enough to be on its own - even though he still looks so little. The photo below shows bunnies out on their own.