My Experience With Cottontails

I found my three rabbits through my dog.  She peed on them and almost ate them!  Luckily, none of the bunnies got hurt.  At first, all the bunnies wanted to do was sleep and they were great cuddlers; as they got older, however, they became much more active.  Since it was a safe environment, I was able to let the rabbits roam free in my bathroom, beware: if you do this, they do poop a lot, and as they age are fast they can be hard to recapture.  Make sure there is no small places the bunnies can get stuck in if you let them roam, or any unsafe small objects for they may want to eat them.  The rabbits were difficult to take care of, but ‘bottle’ feeding was always fun.  Releasing my rabbits was very hard because I had grown very attached to them.  I had contemplated keeping them, but, they are wild, they belong to be free.  I learned a lot from my experience with the cottontails.  First off, wild things belong in the wild.  Secondly, being a ‘parent’ is a lot of hard work, but can be very rewarding.   The first time I tried to let one of the cottontails go, it was too young.  I found it later that day hiding in a bush I picked it up and brought it back in with its siblings.  The second time, when they were a little older, I released them all together, this was a success.  I often wonder how my baby cottontails are and if they are still alive.  Since the release of my rabbits, I have successfully rehabilitated an orphaned bird, which in my opinion was even more work due to the fact its feedings needed to be done more frequently.  Rehabilitating wild life can be very rewarding.