attacked baby rabbit

Question
yesterday, I happened upon a group of crows attacking a baby cotton tail as I was leaving my office.  I could not have missed it...the bunny was screaming.  I interrupted the crows and picked up the screaming, flopping around bunny.  The bunny was about 5 inches long, open eyes etc.  He was breathing very heavy, then his breathing slowed and stopped.  My question is, should have I not picked it up? Did I just add to the trauma and cause him more shock....that eventually killed him.  There were no obvious wounds on his body, so at first I thought he would be ok.  I would like to know for the future what would be the best thing to do....too many crows hanging around our office building.

Answer
Dear Carey,

I am so sorry you had to witness such a horrible thing. But you were very kind to intervene and protect the baby from the crows.  

It is possible that a crow delivered a blow to the head of the baby, which might explain why it was thrashing around:  it may already have received a fatal injury.  It is also possible that the baby was so terrified and stressed that being picked up elicited cardiac arrest.  But there is really no way to know for sure.  In any case, I certainly don't think, you should blame yourself for the baby's death.  You were doing what you could to save him.

I think in the future, should you witness anything like this, it would be best to simply cover the baby with something protective and *not* pick him up until you are sure he's calmed down and able to withstand being touched.  I'm not sure this would have helped in this case, but it's something to try.  I hope you never have to.

Thank you for trying to save the baby.  You are very kind.  I'm sorry you had to see something so violent and traumatic.

Take care,

Dana