Baby Cottontail Rabbit Fights To Survive

The following story about baby cottontail rabbit was shared with us by DFW Wildcare in Texas.

Homeward Bound (HB) was named for the children’s movie of the same name. A well-meaning Samaritan saw him with his siblings near a school playground March 13, 2024. In an attempt to move the rabbit kits to a safer area, she moved the litter into woods behind the school.

A week later, a staff member saw this same litter coming out of the wooded area on their way back to the playground and, more importantly, back to Mom. They had not quite finished being weaned when they were moved.

Unfortunately, some local birds of prey saw the litter as they exited the wooded area and attacked. By the time the staff member got to the litter, only one was still alive.

Unfortunately, they were still of the age that they were likely meeting Mom at the nest at dusk/dawn to nurse and, therefore, HB was severely emaciated.

Weighing in at only 70 grams (about 2.5 ounces) (image of HB with finder prior to intake) at around 4 weeks when he should have been 90+ grams, this poor baby rabbit was feeling the effects of emaciation, agonal breathing, and already laying on his side. This is typically the point of no return for cottontails, but we really wanted to give him a chance as long as he had fight in him.

The first week was touch and go. He received subcutaneous lactated ringers at three to five percent of his body weight two to three times a day, and Fox Valley Electrostat orally until he had a positive turgor test. Then, we started on EmerAid IC Herbivore mixed up with Electrostat (instead of water) so he would continue to get the extra hydration and electrolytes while getting the nutritional value from EmerAid.

He was fed 5 to 7 ml of EmerAid every 4 to 5 hours for the first three days and then down to three times a day thereafter. This was all given orally via miracle nipple and syringe, and he was always very eager to take. While after fully hydrated he’d get to the point where he could sit up on his own, and would be eager at every feeding to suck down the EmerAid. By the end of each feeding he would no longer have the energy to hold his head up.

Every day that first week there was a high possibility that he wasn’t going to make it to the next day. He was in a limited-mobility cage and also had a heating pad under half his cage to conserve calories. While he was of the age to be able to thermoregulate on his own, we took every precaution to conserve calories so that they could go toward helping his body repair itself from starvation and potential muscle mass loss from catabolism.

By the second week, HB was able to easily move around his limited-mobility cage for food/water without getting weak or having to rest. He was moved to a larger cage with other cottontails for moral support and socialization, and we added in additional nutrition resources in a bowl twice a day for free feeding along with endless amounts of hay and fresh grass. He still was getting 9 ml of EmerAid two times a day mixed with Electrostat instead of water to help his calorie intake and for extra nutrition.

By the third week he was thriving and able to get back to what should have been a “normal” weight for this age range (120+ grams). He received 9 ml of EmerAid only once a day this week to start weaning him off while we watched his weight to ensure he continued to gain on his own without the supplemental feedings.

Once completely weaned off of additional supplemental feedings, he spent a week in pre-release learning the sounds of nature, eating fresh grass straight from the ground, learning to forage on his own, and allowing his “wild” instincts to kick in. He was released with like kind in an area with plenty of underbrush, a large pond, and all the greenery his heart could ever desire on April 11, 2024.
(Image of HB on release day with his cage mates. He is the one without a stripe on his forehead).