care for wild rabbits

Question
On wednesday we found a nest of 4 baby brown rabits while mowing. We left them alone but as of yesterday evening the mother had not returned. Last night ( thursday ) I went out to check on them during a hard rain and found a large Black snake in the nest. One baby rabit was half in the snakes mouth and the other three were scattered around the outside of the nest. I quickly grabbed up the three and now they are in my house. The babies are a little larger than a grown gerbil and their eyes are wide open. They are very active and have a lot of 'hop' in them. How and what do I feed them until they are grow enough to return to the wild? Please email me with any help you can offer.

Answer
Dear Benjyman,

The best thing to do for wild cottontails is to leave them where mama can find them.  I'm glad you were able to rescue the rest of the babies from the snake!  Is the snake still around?  If so, you might want to capture and relocate it to a suitable area several miles away, and then put the babies back in the nest.  

A mother rabbit will NOT stay near her babies, and as they get older she visits the nest less frequently to avoid attracting predators.  She still feeds them, even if you don't see her.  One way to know if she's coming to them is to place long blades of grass over the nest.  If they're disturbed, and if the babies are warm and round (and not wrinkled or dehydrated looking), then mama is doing her job.

It is *extremely* difficult to successfully raise wild cottontails.  The mother's milk contains a special fatty acid that suppresses bacterial growth, and at the stage you describe this is the *most* critical:  when they are just starting to nibble grass and introduce bacteria into their intestines.  Most babies that kind people try to raise die from enteritis because of the lack of this vital fatty acid.

If you write directly to me at dana@miami.edu I will send you a LONG post that explains how you might be able to help.  But the best priorities are:

1.  Get the babies back to mama
2.  Get the babies to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator who is experienced with cottontails (and won't just feed them to a rescued snake or raptor!)
3.  Try to raise them yourself.

I hope that helps get you started, but please write back to me if you would like the long article (it's too long to cut and paste here).

Thank you for your kindness to these little wild ones!

Dana