Baby Bunnies and Birds

In the summer when Dad was mowing in the hay fields, he would occasionally come across a nest with baby cottontail rabbits.  He would get off the tractor and catch a baby bunny or two and tuck them inside his plaid snap-closure work shirt.  After getting home in the late afternoon, he would come to the house with a slight smile on his face dusty from working in the field, reach inside his shirt and hand us the baby bunnies.  Their variegated brown fur, which camouflaged them well in the field, was soft to the touch covering their tiny frame. A tiny little puff of white fur for the cottontail tucked  under the bottom was only evident when they hopped along.  Their big brown eyes opened wide with wonder and fear, tiny noses quivered and short ears laid flat on their back.  They would try to hide under an arm or burrow in the fold of our clothes.

Since the basement was not yet finished at the time, we fixed up an enclosure with a piece of plywood blocking off a corner.  We used my brother's play barn and silo laid on its side covered with a towel to give the rabbits a place like a burrow to sleep and hide.  We fed the baby bunnies warm milk in a jar lid. After having their noses dunked in the milk , they quickly learned to drink it just like a cat would.  The bunnies eagerly awaited their milk, standing on their hind legs to get it sooner. Freshly picked grass from the yard and bits of lettuce and carrots supplemented their diets.  Because we gave them lots of attention playing with them daily, the bunnies were tame in no time. We would take them out on the front lawn to play, but we had to watch carefully to keep the cats and dog away. However, they also grew very fast and soon were too big to keep in the house, so we would release them out away from the house in the hopes that the cats would not get them. 

One summer, I had also rescued some baby sparrows from a nest that had fallen down in the barn.  It seemed logical to me to keep the birds in the enclosure with the bunnies since the sparrows weren't able to fly yet.  The birds and bunnies made for interesting roommates and watching them interact with each other was comical.  The birds would hop around the space stretching their fledgling wings.  The bunnies were curious but not very brave. This arrangement worked fine for a little while, but on coming home from church one Sunday, we found the sparrows roosting on the music rack on the piano upstairs. Mom had enough at that point and the animals were out of the house.  Any further attempts at keeping baby bunnies or birds had to be done outside in the garage or barn.

I enjoyed being able to have these experiences with wild animals, nurturing and caring for them.  I imagined being a naturalist  watching and  understanding animal ways;  life on the ranch allowed me glimpses of that life.