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my wild baby rabbit

22 9:40:52

Question
2 weeks ago my dog killed a mother bunny and siblings and I saved 4 and 3 died and I have one left named Pentacle but just this morning she ate some of my hair as well when I went to feed her after so she wasn't suffocating and I caught her eating paper towels and I don't know what to do plus she has been shy and wary of me and my family which is weird because she loved to be held please  tell me if that's bad and if she will live. because I have become very attached to her.

       Alice baxter

Answer
Dear Alice,

Wild rabbits do not thrive in captivity.  Baby rabbits may be affectionate at first, but as they wean, their wildness kicks in, and their instinct to be free takes over.  Though you are attached to her, Pentacle should be taken to a wildlife rehabilitator (only a TRUSTWORTHY one, and if you need a reference, I can find one; just need to know your approximate geographic location) for gentle release.

Some cottontails become very calm and "tame" around people, but it's a matter of personality.  If a baby starts to become wild and nervous and shy around people, it is her personality, and nothing can change that.  Being kept in captivity is stressful for her, and she is not one of the cottontails who can live happily with humans around.  Some can, but most cannot.

I hope you will do the right thing and give Pentacle what she needs, which is the freedom to be with her own kind.  You have done a wonderful job raising her and saving her life.  But she is her own little person and needs to choose her own path.

I hope this helps.

Dana