In the village where my father works, a crew was building a fire line when they discovered these little guys hiding underneath a brush pile (The brush had been piled there for less than four days, so these five snowshoe hares were certainly younger than that. My guess is they were either one or two days old when they were discovered). So my dad calls me up--it's my week off--and volunteers me to take care of them.My family has often undertaken mercy missions like this in the past (ducks, hares, swallows, woodpeckers, and other birds), but none has ever been successful. The problem here is that we're too (soft/dumb/stubborn. . .your pick) to just let them die in the wild. . . we have to do everything we can to save them.
So I have a huge burden on my shoulders, as I am the latest in a long series of futile efforts to save wild animals. I don't want to fail.
When these guys were placed in my care, the first order of business was to get some food into them. I mixed some powdered milk and a little sugar and heated it over the oven so that it was warm, and then soaked a towel for them to suck on. . . didn't work. I raided my mom's vanity and nicked an eye-dropper, which worked somewhat better, but they still barely ate. I was very worried, because all they were doing was piling in the corner of the little box they were in and sleeping. Sometimes they looked dead.
Fortunately, I live in the Internet generation, so I did some research to figure out what these guys eat. I didn't find anything that I didn't already know, but I did stumble across a recording of a showshoe hare on the National Geographic website, which I played (If you don't know already, the main sound that these little bunnies make is a horrible screaming cry when they are in mortal danger). I was hoping for something a little different, but no, it was a rabbit screaming. My new little charges panicked, and I felt horrible, but it did demonstrate that they were still alive.
I did learn that they do most of their eating at night, so I left them alone for the rest of the day and tried to feed them later at night. I can't say that I was much more successful, but I did get them to eat a little.
They next couple days went a bit better. I've gotten them to eat more when I feed them, about as much as an eyedropper can suck up in one dip. Hopefully, they are getting the nutrients that growing bunnies need. I've tried boiling plants and bark to add to their milk, but I don't know if that is working or not.
Whatever the case, they seem to be perking up. A couple seem to have plenty of energy, and all of them can move fairly well (when I got them they were so weak/young/both that they trembled when they moved, but now they hop pretty nicely). One of them does seem a little weaker, but I still have hope for him. Two have one eye closed, I don't know why, snowshoe hares are born with fur and open eyes. . .
Anyway, if you have any experience or advise let me know. These bunnies need all the help they can get!
4 comments:
They make special milk for orphaned kittens and the like. Perhaps that would work for baby rabbits too. But you'd have to go to Anchorage.... Also, your oldest sister went through this same ordeal just a few years ago. Ask her what she fed them and how they did.
Sad thing. Lest any readers think otherwise, these bunnies were about to be fed to a large chipper when they were found. They had been born over the weekend under a pile of slash that was destined to be chopped up. When the chipper was started up (VERY noisy, and I'm sure scary for a mommy bunny), the mother disappeared. These little ones were orphaned and would have starved, or provided a snack for a fox or owl, or been chopped to mince, if the crew had not rescued them. Besides, you should see how their new surrogate "mama" dotes over them!
I regret to report that this mercy mission has also failed. Before about 10:p yesterday, all the bunnies were thriving, gaining weight, jumping around with exuberant energy, just like a thriving bunny should. Then, my youngest son noticed one of the bunnies had collapsed to its side and was convulsing. Within the hour, it was dead. A second one died a few minutes later in the same manner. The others seemed OK. But, when we went to tend them this morning, two more were dead. The last one still seemed energetic and thriving. We prayed we could save it. But, again, I went home at 1:p to tend it, and found it had died also. After growing, thriving, gaining weight, etc., for days, all of a sudden within 15 hours, all were dead. We still cannot fathom why. It may have been the milk solution we were feeding them. Just don't know. The sad thing is that when we took this on, we all expected them to die. But we had to try anyway. Then they respond to our care and from all appearances are doing good. You can't help but get your hopes up. And, they were so cute! and loving! I guess I'm just too soft - I fell in love with them. It breaks my heart that they are gone. My youngest son, a big strapping tall-as-I-am lad, just cried. Oh well. We truly tried our best.
Aw, sad to hear it. They sure were cute! You did your best.
Post a Comment