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help with baby jackrabbits

22 10:56:21

Question
i recently found two baby jack rabbits..there smaller than a palm. they still have the white spot on their head. I wanted to know when I should start showing them "tough love" to be introduced back into the wild? And do i need to make some sort of home outside for them, so they have something to get them  started? This is the first time i did this. all the advice you give me would help.
Thanks so much!

Answer
Dear April,

How long ago did you bring them inside?  Although it might have seemed as if they were orphaned, they were probably not.  The mother hare will feed her babies only twice a day--close to dawn and dusk--and then stay away so as not to attract predators.  If you have *just* taken them in (within a day), then the best thing to do would be to put them back *exactly* where you found them so mama can continue feeding them.  Rub them gently with some fresh grass or leaves to dampen your smell, and all should be well.

If the babies have been in your care for more than a few days, mama may have stopped looking for them by now.  (This is why you should always leave wild cottontails and rabbits where you find them; mama is caring for them.)  This means you may have to continue caring for them until they are 12 weeks old, which is when jackrabbits wean.  The problem is that these are very flighty, easily stressed animals, and they sometimes can die unexpectedly from "captive stress."

This is why the best course of action would be for you to contact your local wildlife rehabilitator and let them take care of the babies until they are fully grown. There are actually very few really *good* jackrabbit rehabilitators, but the best one is Regina Whitman.  I would recommend that you contact her to see if she might be able to take the babies and raise them successfully to release age.  (She is one of the few who actually knows it is not wise to release jackrabbits too soon, as they are not truly weaned until they are about 12 weeks old!)

Regina's email is:  Regina Whitman <desertcry@earthlink.net>

If she cannot take them (if she's too far away), she will be able to recommend a trustworthy rehabber who will be able to save the baby hares, and not just feed them to a snake or bird of prey (some rehabbers are very...strange, to use a kind word).

I hope this helps, and that you can get those babies to a good rehabber soon.  It is their best chance for survival.

Take care, and thank you for caring for the babies.

Dana