Early Easter Part Two

As promised, here is the next part of feeding the baby bunnies this week at the Wildlife Rehab Center (If you're wondering what I'm talking about just scroll down past this to see the previous post -- caution: video to make you swoon is included).

The women who run the center, who are experts, taught me how to do this. You hold the baby's head gently between thumb and forefinger and go in with the milk at the side of the mouth at first, because even at this stage the bunnies have front teeth! They squiggle more than any squirrel, rambunctious as they are. I was amazed at how strong their arms and legs were as they pushed against the inside of my hand. The babies are just so small!

Did I mention how humbling it is to have this little life squirming around in your hand? This was my last feeding of the day with the last of the three bunnies so I asked another volunteer to take a little footage... For that reason, held him a bit loosely, allowed his head to move. It takes a minute for him to get it right and then my coworker zoomed so you can see a little better.



(if you listen closely you can hear both me saying it's a bad hair day and the constant cock a doodle do's of a large bunch of chickens who are being held in an ajacent building. They were confiscated by the SPCA -- maybe it will be on a future Animal Planet show)

Even at this age they chew with that cute wrinkly nose action instead of suckling. It's a trick to get it into their mouths. I tried to start out with a drop of milk on his lips (do bunnies have lips?), hoping he would just open up, but apparently that's not how bunnies work. Baby squirrels smell the milk on your hands from the second you pick them up and even with their eyes still closed they start hunting for the source.

I know that was short but again, they are the priority. I just wanted to have a little of this on film to let people know of the wonderful work that is being done out there, by the people who set up places like this and work tirelessly for the well being of animals. I just get the privilege to make a tiny contribution. The joy I get in return is immeasurable.

Easter Arrived Early

As promised, here are some videos of what I did yesterday. There were some newborn bunnies, to add to the larger babies we have been caring for. I have never seen baby bunnies, and certainly none this small. Their eyes open in about 8 days, so we figure these might be anywhere from 3-6 days old.

How to describe. SOFT. Little folded back ears. REALLY squiggly and strong. Not so easy to feed. Here's how I first saw the squiggling little bunch of three. They are all curled together inside a small kleenex box. They have a little flannel in there and look how much room there still is with THREE bunnies.



I took one out to feed, which is a trick because my hand was larger than the hole on the kleenex box they were kept in. And it is a humbling sense of responsibility to handle something so tiny that is a living being. I put him on my lap for a moment while the milk was warming up.




Ooooh I just keep pressing play to watch these again and again. They're just too short but I don't want to take away from the job I have to do. I will post the video of me feeding this little one tomorrow. For better or worse, I've largely been a city girl so I have never seen bunnies like this. Have any of you seen bunnies this small in your yard?