baby rabbits in hole filled with water

Question
I need to know what to do about baby rabbits in our back yard, there has been a lot of rain and the hole is full of water.  we pulled them out and put them on a towel but now they are wandering around, even though their eyes arenot even open yet.  What is the safest thing to do for them?

Answer
Dear Carolyn,

Are these European rabbits, or U.S. cottontails?  If they're in a true burrow/hole, then I'm guessing they're wild UK or European rabbits, and it will be difficult to replace them in a condition that the mother will accept.  If you think you can try to hand raise them, then this information should help:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/wildbabies.pdf

and

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html

If the babies are cottontails, and if there's a place with high ground near the nest, then you could reconstruct the nest there and put a large umbrella over it to prevent further flooding.  Place two strings in an X over the nest, so you can see if it's disturbed, and if it is, and the babies are active and warm, then mama has returned to care for them.  This is the best case scenario.

But if you can confirm that mama has abandoned the nest, then please try the hand-raising instructions in the two articles above.  I hope they'll do fine!

Dana