With my decision to stay in Bloomington for a while, and working from home with very little social life, I finally had the opportunity to volunteer with a Wildlife Rehabilitation organization. After my Alpaca Adventure, I knew I could handle more than I thought I could and set off with zeal.
My main concern was seeing the pain and suffering of injured creatures. But I had managed to push that to the side volunteering at the animals shelter. I tried to focus on what GOOD was being done, even if for a little while in a creature's life.
One of the first things I got to learn about was baby bunnies! (Eastern Cottontails to be specific)
Important things I never knew, which I will share:
1. American cottontails are not like European cottontails. They do not typically live in burrows (like Peter Cottontail), but have hidden nests in the grass. This is why many tiny bunnies get injured/killed by lawn mowers. Ick.
2. The mother rabbit does NOT stay on the nest. She shows up twice a day to feed, make them poop, and clean everyone. Then she GOES AWAY, to draw predators away.
3. The cleaning before/after feeding time IS to stimulate digestion and clean out the intestines.
4. When the baby is 'full' it turns itself around and burrows nose first back into the nest.
5. These rabbits are pretty much 'food' for everyone. Their only natural defense is speed, and the ability to freak out and give themselves a heart attack. Which, if the option is staying alive long enough to feel a predator ripping you apart, seems a fairly logical adaptation. At least I think so.
I got the exciting (and a little frustrating) experience of trying to feed a VERY tiny Eastern Cottontail a little bit of rabbit formula, with a very tiny syringe. I did not take my camera, but here is a picture from a Minnesota Wildlife Rehab facility of such a baby cottontail.
Here is their site: http://www.wrcmn.org/pulse/archives/date/2010/03
The baby I got to feed was about the size of my finger; eyes closed and very squiggly. The first thing you do is get a cotton ball dipped in warm water to stimulate the peeing and pooping. This way the baby is ready for more food. :)
I was successful in getting the poop out of the tiny squiggly bunny. Mission Accomplished! You can imagine, such a tiny creature produces a very tiny poop. Like a small ant....
This is an art, to hold the baby in a cloth with one hand, and empty the syringe of formula slowly, smoothly and gently into its mouth. You can't go too FAST or it all comes out the nose. You also don't want to shoot liquid into the lungs.
I had just about gotten it, when my bunny turned its butt to me and headed into the 'burrow'. WAIT, little bunny!! There's more formula to go!! So I diligently balanced the syringe between fingers and turned the washcloth around, so baby bunny is facing the food again. Baby bunny immediately turned and burrowed back down!! This went on for about 4 minutes, until I asked one of the trainers.
THAT was how I learned about them turning tail when they're full. In retrospect it makes sense, but I was very confused at the time and thought I had failed my baby bunny.
The mostly weaned bunnies were kept in cages in a 'quiet room'. These were the ones eating greens, but still getting formula in a dish. I got to help in that room every Saturday, during peak bunny season.
It seems I am very good at being sneaky and quiet and not traumatizing the freaked out litters of bunnies. Well, there's a new super power I must learn how to utilize!
I was relieved that I only had to 'bag' one small bunny, who had died. They are very difficult to tend in captivity, and there's quite a high death rate. One I could handle, and it was dead when I arrived. Thank GOODNESS I did not kill it. I would be mortified if I frightened a bunny to death.
I tried to find images of bunnies for you all, but most are copyrighted. So here is image search:
Coming soon: fawns and opposums (these will have pictures!)
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