former pet rabbit in backyard

Question
We have a rabbit in and around our yard that we believe was someone's pet.  It is larger, fluffier, and has a bigger head and different colored fur than the local wild rabbits.  We have fed it carrots and tomatoes, and it will eat from our hands.  We've had a week of flooding rains and today we found it huddled under a neighbors garage overhang, with its fur all wet.  It takes food but won't come into the little hutch we made for it from an old milk crate.  It allows itself to be petted, but struggles when we try to pick it up.  Is there any way we can get it into a temporary hutch until we can get a real one?  We would like to adopt this rabbit.  Thank you for your time,

Holly & Frank

P.S.- The "hutch" we made is milk crate turned on its side, with the open part facing out, some lawn mulch on the bottom, and a towel covering the top and sides, placed under an overhang.

Answer
Something to think about....  Sometimes my rabbits will get out of their cages, if a door is left open or they find a hole in the wire before I do.  Sometimes days or weeks will go by before I can catch it again.  EVERYTIME one of my domestic rabbits has spent more than a week outside of a cage then gets put back in one it dies overnight.  I don't know why, but I think it has something to do with the fact that the rabbit is not as domesticated as we would like to think.

That being said....When my rabbits get out of their cages, I often use a live trap to recover them.  These types of traps do no harm and are safe to use.  If you can pet it you should be able to grab it by the scruff of the neck long enough to have someone else help you get it into a box or something.  The set up you are using might not be working because of the towel.  Rabbits that have been wild for sometime do not like close confined areas.

I would suggest making sure you have provided good, safe places for the rabbit to get out of the rain, snow, wind etc and provide it with fresh veggies -- a good list of safe healthy veggies/fruits can be found on rabbit.org.  You might also provide it with pellets or hay.  But think twice about trying to confine it.