A Sure Sign of Spring
“Do you take bunnies?” the caller asked.
“Well, uh, I could take them for the night but I’m ready to go to work soon,” I said, hoping my excuse sounded convincing.
“So will you take them?”
“Ah, yeah, sure.”
That was the first call I’ve taken since I got my state permit in December to care for native wildlife. I had volunteered for six years at a wildlife rehab center – long enough to learn that eastern cottontails don’t do well in rehab. When I got my permit, I imagined I would keep animals for a day or two before turning them over to rehabbers who have more room to set up cages. For some reason, I always imagined I would start off with gray squirrels or opossums, not bunnies which are apt to die just from the stress of being near humans.
The caller was a volunteer for Wildlife Rehab Inc. in Winston-Salem, which operates a hotline for humans who have found injured and orphaned animals. The bunnies were found on Randleman Road by a HVAC repairman. He was cleaning an air conditioner when he took a step back and was startled by the squealing of frightened bunnies. Because he had sprayed chemicals near the nest, he thought it best to remove them.
That was a week ago. After feeding them the first two days, I decided it wasn’t so bad, that just maybe I could do this. They’re still in my guest room, snug in a Rubbermaid container lined with timothy hay. I feed them formula twice a day; the rest of the time they nibble on baby greens and clover. They weighed 55 grams (2 ounces) when I got them. They’re now around 70 grams. I hope I’ll be able to release them soon. I’m looking forward to taking them out on a warm spring afternoon and releasing them back into the wild. They’ll scamper off into the tall grass without a backward glance. That’s how it should be.
“Do you take bunnies?” the caller asked.
“Well, uh, I could take them for the night but I’m ready to go to work soon,” I said, hoping my excuse sounded convincing.
“So will you take them?”
“Ah, yeah, sure.”
That was the first call I’ve taken since I got my state permit in December to care for native wildlife. I had volunteered for six years at a wildlife rehab center – long enough to learn that eastern cottontails don’t do well in rehab. When I got my permit, I imagined I would keep animals for a day or two before turning them over to rehabbers who have more room to set up cages. For some reason, I always imagined I would start off with gray squirrels or opossums, not bunnies which are apt to die just from the stress of being near humans.
The caller was a volunteer for Wildlife Rehab Inc. in Winston-Salem, which operates a hotline for humans who have found injured and orphaned animals. The bunnies were found on Randleman Road by a HVAC repairman. He was cleaning an air conditioner when he took a step back and was startled by the squealing of frightened bunnies. Because he had sprayed chemicals near the nest, he thought it best to remove them.
That was a week ago. After feeding them the first two days, I decided it wasn’t so bad, that just maybe I could do this. They’re still in my guest room, snug in a Rubbermaid container lined with timothy hay. I feed them formula twice a day; the rest of the time they nibble on baby greens and clover. They weighed 55 grams (2 ounces) when I got them. They’re now around 70 grams. I hope I’ll be able to release them soon. I’m looking forward to taking them out on a warm spring afternoon and releasing them back into the wild. They’ll scamper off into the tall grass without a backward glance. That’s how it should be.
posted by Brenda Hiles | 7:28 PM
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