Posted by ca thor on April 9, 2006

Q: I have a cottontail nest in my yard, my dog found it though didn't hurt them, I saw 3 of them, and put them back, covered the nest w/ grass and moms fur, about 4 hours later, I found a baby hopping around, thought it was part of the litter, and put it in the nest, though it seemed larger and older then the other babies...the mom came to feed last night, and at dust tonight, she had the bigger baby, the one I had put in the nest out, she was grooming it about 5ft from the nest, she then went back to the nest, and this little bunny hopped away, under some bushes, Could this have been another baby, not hers, as it was so much bigger? Do they grow at different rates, does the mom typically take a bunny from the nest? or do they just leave, at the same time? She had bunnies in the same hole in the yard last summer, and lived behind the a/c units all winter. I don't know, I was worried about the little bunny she took out, and let it hop away, I'm thinking maybe it wasn't hers, though she let it stay in the nest all last night, could that be? how do they finally let their babies go? do they take them out, or do the babies just leave? I can't find this info anywhere. She was on and off her nest for about 2 hours, between 7pm and 9pm, the most I've ever seen her, do you think the babies are ok?Thank you! I'm from dupage county, a suburb of Chicago

Habitat: suburban/yard

State: Illinois

Habitat: suburban/yard

A: Wow, you did a great job of describing your rabbits' activities - you'd make a good scientist! As you already have noted, the mother rabbit doesn't stay with her babies much but feeds them and then leaves. She may stay nearby, but not right at the nest. Finding a much larger bunny near the nest of smaller rabbits makes me wonder if this is a youngster from an earlier litter - all of the current litter should be of similar size. Rabbits have several litters of young in a year so maybe this was an earlier bunny. If the mother was grooming it, does sound to me as though it was probably hers.

As the bunnies mature, they do indeed leave the nest on their own and begin hopping around eating solid food. Rather quickly, they switch from rabbit milk to solids and then are soon completely on their own. They may seem awfully small to be on their own but this is how it works for them. Thanks for your question and I hope this helps.

John Wiessinger ( April 10, 2006)