One young Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanuslone) is difficult to rehabilitate. Now imagine that you have dozens at a time, all hungry for formula or leafy greens and growing at a rapid pace. It takes about four weeks from birth through development for a kit to become independent from its parents, which is a short time compared to many other mammalian species. Raising rabbits may sound like an easy thing to do, yet these sensitive, simple beings are incredibly complex at the same time. 

How much do you know about Eastern Cottontail rabbits? They are one of the most common species that DCHS’s Wildlife Center receives calls about throughout the year, and in most annual reports, cottontails have made the top of the list for total admissions of a single species. Their ages at admission range from newborn to adults, with juveniles or adolescents having the most success in terms of a release percentage. Newborns have a very low chance of survival without their mother because of their naïve immune system and sensitive gastrointestinal tract, and adults tend to fare poorly due to severe illness or injuries that they experience in life. For example, many adult rabbits are found hit by cars, stuck in fences, or are hurt by companion animals like dogs and cats. Others succumb to symptoms of internal parasites or are predated on by wild carnivores who rely on them as food. 

When rabbits are first born, their eyes and ears are closed, and they have no fur. They are so fragile! Neonates look like tiny naked hippopotamuses that just wiggle around, feeling for Mom, and hoping to nurse. They are truly helpless and highly sensitive to stress. It's hard to get a newborn rabbit to eat because offering them a plastic nipple at the end of a syringe just isn’t the same as nuzzling up to a mother rabbit’s underbelly for milk and warmth. Plus, commercial brands of formula, made by mixing powder and hot water together, are created in a lab and are not the same as what Mom naturally produces for her kits. It gets close, but it’s not perfect. Another rehabilitation method is to tube-feed them, which may be faster, but it’s less natural than suckling. It also comes with a lot of risks and takes advanced medical training to perform. For those reasons and more, only experienced licensed rehabilitators should attempt to raise young Eastern Cottontails – plus, that’s the law. 

By the second week of age, Eastern Cottontail rabbit kits have grown more fur, but their eyes are still closed. Their ears are held back and flat against their heads. They continue to grow in size, but it takes until they are 3 to 4 weeks old for their eyes to finally open. As soon as they start hopping around and their ears are pointed up, fur is medium length, and the small white spot on the front of their forehead has disappeared (a common, semi-reliable indicator), then they are likely independent from formula and have begun to taste their first greens. At four weeks old, they are about the size of the palm of your hand and are seen exploring outside the nest to eat vegetation. In rehabilitation, the transition stage from formula to greens is a scary developmental step because gut problems may develop the first time they begin digesting fibrous material. Infant rabbits that are admitted to rehabilitators usually haven’t received enough fatty acids from their mother’s milk to control bacterial growth, which could lead to future gastrointestinal infections. As they age and nibble on solid foods, wild rabbit kits also eat cecotropes, or a type of pelleted rabbit waste that originates in the cecum. Cecotropes are an important source of gut bacteria for rabbits who need it for plant-matter digestion, as the material is full of vital vitamins and nutrients. Finding cecotropes to feed infant rabbits in rehabilitation is not easy, and if your first thought is to take them from domestic rabbits or other wild rabbit adults, that comes with a whole other set of ethical concerns and hazards that are beyond the scope of this article.  

Rabbits will eat vegetative material for the rest of their lives, and types will vary with the seasons and geographic location. They eat many kinds of forbes and grasses, and even woody material, but some of their favorite foods around this region are dandelion, plantain, and clover. Unfortunately, consuming wild plants can come with risks, especially in urban areas. For instance, lots of people spray their dandelions with herbicides, and the timing of that application could impact the lives of young rabbits dispersing from the nest. If they ingest food that is toxic to them, such as glyphosate (a common ingredient in herbicides), it can cause diarrhea, seizures, depression, and even death. For people who have dogs and cats that go outside, rabbits are at risk of injury or mortality from them while nesting or foraging – adults and young alike.  

Some people call the Wildlife Center and ask why a mother rabbit would nest in their fenced-in yard. Honestly, we don’t know why she does it either. Does Mom know about the homeowners having pets or kids? Clearly, she thinks it's a safe location, even if it’s not. Lots of callers tell us the baby bunnies will not survive because their dog or another predator will eat them “no matter what” and that it’s our responsibility as rehabilitators to admit them so that they will survive. Unfortunately, we cannot prevent every bunny from being killed by a cat, dog, or wild predator. Their best chance of survival is with their mothers. Instead, we ask people: what can we do to keep the bunnies safer in the wild?  

As pet guardians, we must be responsible for knowing how to keep our companion animals away from harm and try to keep wildlife safe at the same time, knowing they could come into contact with each other in the environment. Dogs can go on a leash, and they could go for a walk instead of being out in the yard unsupervised. Dog parks are a possibility depending on safety, behavior, or temperament. Or there are tools that can be used to keep them at a safe distance of the yard instead, such as dog runner, tie out, or leash lead.  

Cats should be kept indoors whenever possible, or they can be placed in an outdoor “catio,” a screened-in porch, or on-leash with a harness for enrichment time outside. Outdoor cats will predate on wildlife like baby bunnies and birds all throughout the spring and summer season, no matter how well fed they are at home. Their instinct is to pounce on anything that moves! For cats, it's entertainment, but for a wild animal, it can be life or death.  

“Letting cats roam outside subjects them to perils of the outdoor world (being hit by cars, disease, attacked by dogs and other cats, etc.). Indoor cats live a healthier and longer life. Outdoor cats, no matter how well-fed, will hunt and kill wildlife like baby rabbits and baby birds who have not yet learned to fly. Wildlife and cats are both at risk.”  

– Laura Simon, former field director of urban wildlife for The Humane Society of the United States 

If for some reason, dogs or cats must be out in a yard where bunnies are present and if a nest has been placed, another technique that can help is a laundry basket placed over the top of the nest during the day. For persistent dogs, you may need a sturdier basket, and it needs to be weighed down with a heavy material like a log or bricks. Adult rabbits feed their babies twice per day: once in the morning and again in the evening. They are considered crepuscular animals, meaning they are most active at dawn and dusk. Placing a basket over the nest during the day can protect the nest while Mom is gone, but finders need to flip the basket over so Mom has access to them throughout the evening. This must happen every day before your dog goes back out into the yard, every day! While this can be a temporary solution, it only works during the first few weeks of nesting because once they get to four weeks old, the bunnies will begin to hop around and disperse from the nest. At that point, pet parents must be vigilant and keep companion animals away until they are gone. The rabbits are new to the world and probably scared, but they will make their way outside of the yard over a few days’ time. Encouraging them by clapping your hands or scaring them can work, but it's best to let them do it naturally at their own pace. 

Fun fact: did you know that mom will defend her babies if they’re threatened? It’s pretty amazing! 

Despite all of the advice, tips, and tricks we give to members of the public, some rabbits will be found sick, injured, or orphaned. In those cases, rehabilitation by a licensed professional is the next best option. Below is a list of the primary reasons that a rabbit is likely to be admitted for treatment: 

• If any cat or dog bite was involved – this can cause an injury or infection, depending on the severity 
• The animal is actively bleeding – it means the skin is broken somewhere and treatment is necessary 
• The animal is visibly injured (e.g., broken leg) – this would be painful and requires medical intervention 
• The animal was seen hit by a vehicle or other moving object – especially an adult that is easy to contain 
• The animal displays abnormal neurological signs – this could be due to trauma, diseases, or toxicities 
• The animal is heavily parasitized with fleas, ticks, maggots or fly eggs – overburdened rabbits might be sick 
• The animal has been trapped in an area for longer than 2 to 3 days and looks unhealthy (e.g., window well) 
• A baby animal has truly lost its parent – however, we need to make absolutely sure that the mother has abandoned the nest or was killed (i.e., she will not return to feed her kits) 

In general, unless there is no nest to be found, a rabbit kit is found alone and by itself, or a group of rabbits is in critical condition, rehabilitators may not accept Eastern Cottontail babies until they have been left one night into the next morning. The goal is to confirm the presence or absence of Mom using environmental clues, like patterns of grass/twigs placed over the nest being disturbed after feeding, or finding the kits with full bellies. Trail cameras, home security systems, or other recording devices used to capture an adult visiting the location is by far the best and most reliable resource for most people. For more information about this process, check out our website here. The DNR also has information available here. 

Fifty-six Eastern Cottontail rabbits have been admitted to DCHS’s Wildlife Center since January 1st, 2025. Twenty of them were aged as infants or juveniles, and the rest were adults. Lucky for us, one of our dedicated staff members, Tessa Collins, has yet again elected to rehabilitate many youngling bun-buns this summer. The smallest kits are housed off-site from the Wildlife Center so they can grow up in a quiet, peaceful location until they are old enough to return for pre-release, or outdoor housing at four weeks old. As of mid-April, eight of the kits have returned to our “bunny meadow” which is a set of four, volunteer-constructed hutches. Each hutch has an indoor and outdoor section for them to explore, and they’re eating us out of house and home of store-bought and wild-picked greens. 

“Rehabilitating rabbits has turned me into someone where, all spring and summer, I notice large dandelions everywhere I go and think: “would it be weird if I picked that for my rabbits?” Heck, I’ve got my mom doing the same thing now, too," says Tessa, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. "If you give the rabbits both lettuce and dandelions, every single wilted dandelion leaf is eaten before they even think about touching the lettuce.”  

Staff, interns, and volunteers offer fresh hay, water, and greens to rabbits in the hutches twice per day and are dedicated to their care. Our team loves being able to help a variety of animals, including bunnies like these. While some folks might think of them as common and abundant mammals, or even nuisance animals, we know they provide valuable ecosystem services such as vegetation control and being a food source for keystone predators. To us, raising rabbits is not a waste of resources, but instead, it’s an opportunity for us to teach people more about a native species living in an area where they seem to thrive alongside human presence. Our efforts to rehabilitate them are both a benefit to each individual rabbit that is successfully released and to the people who find them and bring them in, asking for our help to treat them. There’s importance in knowing that many of us see rabbits in our backyards, neighborhoods, and communities and that brings us joy. To others’ whose perspectives differ, we encourage tolerance of wild animals, big or small, in sharing a quote from Answering the Call of the Wild by Erin Luther: 

“Even in highly developed urban areas, animals are an important part of the environment. They play critical roles in both rural and urban ecosystems, and their absence, while it might alleviate conflicts with people, would ultimately disrupt the complex web of life that supports human and animal existence.” 

Jackie Sandberg is the Wildlife Program Manager at DCHS's Wildlife Center.