Wild baby rabbit help

Question
My family found a baby rabbit hole in our backyard, and are recently petting them. One of my friends said that the mother will not come back if the babys are petted. Is that true? And my mother has now decided to keep two of them. I beg her to let them go, but she won't listen. Is it okay to keep them? Will the mother come back if we let them go? Please help me answer those questions.

Answer
Rabbits (at least European rabbits, if you are in the USA, you probably dealing with cottontails, which may be different) are generally not too terribly picky about smell. I'd highly suggest putting them back, and covering them up with nesting material. The mother will probably come back, and care for them, if they are jsut left be.

I believe it is actually illegal to keep cottontails in the USA (it is illegal to keep any wild animal without a permit, I do know that, but I am not sure if cottontails can be raised with a permit or not), not to mention they are not the same as domestic rabbits and will not make as good of pets.