Baby Bunnies in my backyard.

[barbaraann]

A few days ago, my husband and I were watching a rabbit digging a hole in our backyard. I live in the middle of Chicago. I just have a normal sized yard, nothing too big. Not really sure why the rabbits like my yard. We usually see just one rabbit running through, and nibbling, but this was the first time we ever witnessed any digging. The digging was toward the middle of the yard, and in one of the bare patches that I have due to my latest application of fertilizer with weed killer. On any other year, my grass areas are more a combo of grass and weeds, and no bare spots at all.

Anyway. Today, I went out to trim my forsythia bush, and noticed the adult rabbit was back. This time it was under the picnic table. I kept trimming the bush, and rabbit just sat there. No big deal, until I saw a 2nd rabbit. I then decided to try and get the rabbits out of the yard, by maybe scaring them. I pounded on a nearby storage container, and the one rabbit ran. When the 2nd rabbit fled, it was then that I noticed the babies. I made my way into the house, to tell my husband and grandson about the baby rabbits. My grandson got close to the nest, and counted about a 1/2 dozen babies. The nest is near the foot of a picnic table bench. My grandson went in to get his phone, so he could take a photo, but by the time he returned, the nest was covered up by the mother rabbit.

We recently had a bad experience with a wild rabbit. My grandson's cousin bought home a wild rabbit that someone brought into the pet store where he worked. My grandson tried to take care of the bunny, but it died after a few weeks.

We will watch the situation, but we will let "Mother Nature" take care of things this time. The parents are the brown rabbits that we have here in Illinois. I guess I won't be mowing the grass for a while. I am not an animal person, so I am a bit squeamish. I just hope, when all is said and done that this family of rabbits moves on somewhere else, when the bunnies get bigger.

Anybody else ever have this happen to them? I have been googling the internet for info on what to do, and not do. Not much info available.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Oh yea, last year. My dogs got them though. We tried fencing around them however it just was not successful. She had them on flat land and every time it rained the bunnies were out of the nest so they did not drown.

The bunnies are not in the hole that long. They will be out of there soon but you will have baby bunnies running around for awhile.

 

[sonnyjane]

I'm glad the mom returned to the nest. Please just leave them alone. Babies leave the nest at just a couple of weeks so you won't have to wait long.

 

[barbaraann]

We don't have a dog, but there are some cats in the neighborhood that love to run through our yard at night. I did read that they don't get their sight for a few days, and become active in about 10 days. I also read that the mom only nurses those babies once or twice a day. However, those bunnies were definitely born today, or overnight. They were not there yesterday.

I did go back out there early this evening to finish trimming my bush, and there was no sign of the parents. The nest was well camaflouged , and unless you knew it was a nest, you would just think it was a pile of vegetation near the leg of the bench.

 

[barbaraann]

We will definitely leave them alone. That pet store bunny taught us a lesson. Whoever, brought that baby into the pet store, did not do it any favors. They left no info, just a box with the rabbit, left anonymously. When the rabbit arrived to my grandson, I thought it was a pet store bunny, not a wild one. My grandson is not a young kid, but he was heartbroken, after caring for the bunny for weeks, and it died overnight one night. No fun finding a dead pet.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Just leave them be and keep any pets out of the yard for the time being. They grow quickly and will be gone soon, though I suspect mom will probably move the babies to one of her other nests in the next night or two now that they've been disturbed, so they'll be out of your way even sooner.

Wild bunnies are notoriously difficult to raise so it's not surprising you didn't have success with the first one.

For future reference to you or anyone else reading this, wild rabbits are old enough to be on their own when they're about the size of a man's fist. They may look tiny, but they don't need human intervention at that size. Smaller bunnies should be taken to a licensed wildlife rehab if you're absolutely sure they're in some sort of distress. Just because you don't see mom doesn't mean they're orphaned -- she only returns to the nest twice a day.

 

[ronandannette]

The city I live in has a HUGE urban rabbit population. We often see them in our yard but I've never (to my knowledge) had one settle down to nest. I can't say I've ever paid much attention though - both rabbits and squirrels are so common they're not even noteworthy. A little OT, but one of the most fascinating things I've ever seen was a coyote chasing a rabbit through our neighbourhood one winter night (we lived near a large, wooded urban reserve). I simply couldn't believe how fast they were both moving. Not sure which one prevailed as they diverted off the street but what I saw was incredible to wach.

 

[PollyannaMom]

We had baby bunnies once. Just try not to disturb them. They leave pretty quickly.

 

[mamamary]

We get baby bunnies every year. I have a lab so when I know there is a nest I have to watch my dog like a hawk. Years ago my other lab was walking around my yard with one of the babies in his mouth. My daughter who was young at the time spotted it and started crying. I got my dog to drop the baby, I called animal control and got a lovely woman who actually swung by my house. She had me let my lab out to see if he would bring us to the nest. He sure did. She placed the bunny in the nest and said we just had to hope that the mother rabbit wouldn't reject it. Not sure whatever happened. Baby was eventually gone from the nest. A few years ago I had read an article that said if you have a bunny in your yard that they actually stay around their whole lives. Not in the nest but that they usually don't travel far.

 

[Kellykins1218]

You may not see the mom for awhile but that doesn't mean she abandoned the babies. Rabbits usually only go back to the nest at night. As soon as the babies are big enough to hop around they'll all disappear. We get baby bunnies almost every year and they always move on as soon as they start getting out of the nest on their own.

 

[barbaraann]

We have not disturbed, or touched the nest in anyway. My grandson got close enough to peek at the babies before mom covered up the nest. I was initially shocked at the sight of the newborns, and immediately went inside the house. I'm not sure about stray dogs or cats though. We see those from time to time.

 

[cornflkgrl]

I live one state over and in a less populous city. My house is is in the burbs though surrounded by farmland. We have rabbits, deer and occasional coyotes throughout. I have found more than one bunny burrow in our yard. I just leave them alone. They are not hurting anything. They stay there for awhile and eventually come out. We usually try to go around our yard and check pretty well before mowing and stay away from the spots (which are usually by the a/c) or next to the deck. They are usually covered with looser grass and in more hidden places. My husband freaked one time because he thought he ran a burrow over so we carefully uncovered it expecting to find a bunny massacre, but there they were all snuggled in sleeping (or faking sleep because they were freaking petrified of us!) They were breathing. I just wish the rabbits enjoyed eating something other than roses.

 

[Lynne G]

how cute. Yep, the only bunny nest that did not survive was when one rabbit made a nest in our fenced in back yard. One of my dogs got every one of the bunnies. We have lots of rabbits around now that the dogs are gone. I like their white tails.

 

[firecracker725]

I am in IL, and there have been various articles popping up in the media advising to leave the rabbits alone. We are in a newer development near the fields, so we have a ton of rabbits in our neighborhood. I've noticed lots of predatory birds hanging around lately, and my girls walked up on a cat that was chewing on a furry leg just last week. Nature is so brutal, but you just have to leave it be.

 

[miksilver]

We have a ton of rabbits and every year there seems to be a new nest popping up in either mine or my neighbors yard, or both. Sometimes the bunnies are ok, sometimes the riding mower gets them -- that was not a fun experience for our neighbor or my DH! After that I told my DH that it was his and only his job to mow the lawn, I would not be able to handle that massacre.

Then there was the time that there was a nest of babies in our very raised garden bed and we had planted so they could not live there and make it their home. Ever hear a baby bunny squeal? The sound is very loud and distinctive. Our 3 indoor cats were at the back door so fast to see what was going on and about 3 of the outdoor neighborhood cats seemed to come out of no where.

I really hope I don't have any more bunny stories to tell this year.

 

[barbaraann]

I have a very small yard. Basically, the grassy area is grass, mixed in with lots and lots of weeds. Earlier this Spring, I put down weed and feed to get rid of the Dandelions. I then ended up with lots of bare spots. That's where the rabbit was digging earlier this week. However, the nest is in a different spot. It's under the picnic table bench on the side of the leg. Those babies that I got a quick look at were black. Definitely newborns. They were not there, when I mowed the grass over last weekend. However, with all the rain, the grass is tall again. My husband and I have already figured that we need to patch up those bare spots with some top soil, and grass seeds. Now that job can wait, I guess till after the bunnies are gone. In the meantime, I am concerned about mowing.

 

[chattadisser]

Does anyone have any ideas on what would make a yard less welcoming to bunnies? Our neighborhood has tons of bunnies and there is often an active nest in our yard. They don't bother me but we do have a hound dog that loves to hunt. She got into a nest once and brought a baby inside...I about freaked!! Now I have to check her mouth before she comes back in. But, I would just like it if there was a plant or something that might detour them from nesting in our backyard, they can have free reign to the front yard...the dogs never there. I just want them to nest in peace.

 

[barbaraann]

I wanted to put down some kind of rabbit repellant, when I first saw the rabbit digging, and my husband scolded me. Of course, now, it's kind of late for that. I am hoping this is a "once in a lifetime" experience.

 

[cornflkgrl]

Does anyone have any ideas on what would make a yard less welcoming to bunnies?.

Snakes

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We've ALWAYS had bunnies around. Had a baby zip out from under the mower the other day when I started it. Our last dog killed an itty-bitty bunny one year. The kids thought it was a mouse & we didn't correct them. Worst was when I was about 12, I was mowing the pasture & ran over a whole nest of them killing them all