In article , Salty Thumb
wrote:

Peter wrote in :

What do I feed a baby rabbit ??


Due to all the mowing in the neighborhood, and a few hawks and crows
I've somehow adopted a baby rabbit.

Seems to me about 5 - 6 weeks old... has a full coat, but still
can't figure out how to use the hind legs. I'm assuming he/she/it
was either being weaned by mother, or mother is no longer available.

A little late for this, or maybe early for next time. Are you quite sure
the mother was pushing up daisies (and not eating them)? I know that the
parents of some herbivous animals often leave their children unattended
for extended periods of time to feed themselves.

An example is in the great panda expeditions of the 60s "scientists"
would find panda cubs alone in hollowed out trees and assume they were
abandoned. They would then hussle the cub off to civilization, where it
would summarily expire. It is now known that it is quite normal for
pandas to behave this way and the only significant danger the cub faced
under the circumstances was from well meaning humans. [yes I know pandas
are really omnivorous]

If you do a web search I'm sure you'll find pages that say that rabbits
only need to nurse their children for a short period of time each day, so
it shouldn't be odd for the mother to be MIA for an extended period.

Obviously, you are more familar with your situation and the mother may
have been in fact moved to the Great Warren in the Sky, but for others
reading who may not know better, don't assume the worst.

- Salty

You're definitely onto something here. Mother rabbits leave their young
alone for most of each day, for a higher percentage of time than most
small mammals, though some larger (carniverous) mammals will leave their
young alone for two or three days at a stretch. Probably in the majority
of cases when someone finds a nest or den they believe contains orphaned
young, the mother is either nearby, or will return before a full day
passes. If the mother cannot be spotted dead on the highway, or definitely
known to have been killed by a hunter, it should always be assumed she'll
be back. But in the present case, the malfunctioning hind legs indicates
something bad happened to the bunny -- it was either already dehydrated &
its internal organs were shutting down (the hind legs go first), or it was
physically injured by a fall or by a dog or cat or merlin (an injury
wouldn't necessary show). Neither scenario suggests mommy was going to
come back.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/