Desert Cottontails - Renesting and Reuniting
Baby mammals are most successful when raised by their mother in the wild. The mother will provide them with the best sources of nutrition and teach them how to find food and recognize and avoid potential threats. This makes baby animals raised in the wild more adaptable and prepared to survive. For these reasons, we urge people who find baby animals to evaluate the situation and attempt to renest or reunite babies with their mothers before bringing them to Project Wildlife for care.
Very young mammals are often left alone while their mother looks for food and to avoid attracting other animals to the nest or den site. If you find a disturbed nest or a baby mammal without mom, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the baby has been abandoned or orphaned. We always assume the mother is alive and caring for their babies unless proven otherwise.
If you moved a baby, found a single baby or disturbed a nest, please use this resource to attempt to reunite them with their mother and monitor their health unless the mom is found deceased.
Background Information
Desert cottontail nests are simply shallow dips in the ground lined with fur and grass. Mothers leave their babies alone in the nest while they look for food, and they only feed babies twice a day around dusk and dawn. You probably will never see the mother rabbit, and this is completely normal. If finding babies alone is the only cause for concern, simply leave the area and let the mom continue caring for her babies. No monitoring or follow-up is needed.
Please note that, contrary to popular belief, a mother won’t abandon her babies because you touched them. However, she will not return if you are too close to the baby or nest since humans are seen as threats.
Animal Age
Before you begin the renesting or reuniting effort, please use the information below to confirm the age of the animal you found. Once confirmed, follow the renesting instructions based on the animal’s age.
Infant
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Juvenile
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Note: Desert cottontails are independent at about 1 month of age. They can still be very vulnerable around this age as they learn to hide and sprint when they sense danger. They may panic and freeze instead, making concerned observers think they are in distress and in need of help. If you have found a young cottontail who is alert, has fluffy fur, upright ears and fully open eyes, and is larger than ~4-5" long, the rabbit is likely old enough to be independent and on their own. Simply release the rabbit to the same location you found them or the next closest, safe location.
Health Check
Renest or reunite healthy babies only. Mom won’t return for a sick baby or be able to help them recover.
Check for the following:
- Significant injury (the animal has broken bones, deep cuts, or is non-responsive, gasping, limp, bleeding, etc.)
- Signs of illness (falling over, discharge from eyes or nose, crusty eyes)
- Seen attacked by a cat (or other animal)
- Fleas or ticks all over their body
- Ant, fly or maggot infestation on the baby or in the den
We recommend bringing any baby with these symptoms to Project Wildlife for evaluation and potential rehabilitation (See Box 2). Minor scratches or bruises are not cause for concern unless known to be caused by a cat attack. If the baby does not have any of these symptoms and seems healthy, begin the renesting process. If the baby is cold to the touch, warm them before the renesting process (See Box 1).
Box 1: Heat Sources
Instant Hand Warmers
Hand warmers like HotHands® or similar products can serve as a heat source and last about 5 hours.
Rice Sock
You can create a DIY heat source by filling a sock with uncooked rice and microwaving it until warm. This will last for 1-2 hours.
- Check that heat source won't burn baby.
- Make sure baby has space to move away form heat source.
Nest is Damaged (By Dog, Digging, Other Animal, Etc.)
Sometimes dogs and other animals find and damage nests, but if the babies are unharmed, you can save the nest and monitor as described in the “renesting” section below. Keep your dog on a leash and cat indoors during bunny nesting season, which runs from December to June. Cottontails mature quickly and will be gone in about a month.
You can prevent pets from accessing bunny nests by putting a temporary barrier, such as a laundry hamper, over the nest while your pet is in the yard. Just be sure to remove the barrier when you and your pet leave. Alternatively, you can leave some barriers in place permanently, such as wheelbarrows, wire fencing, hamper propped up on one side, etc., provided you leave a gap big enough for the mother to enter and exit.
Timeline
Because mothers only tend to the nest or feed the babies for short durations twice a day, it is OK to renest babies at any time of day. If you picked up and kept the bunny for 24 hours or longer already AND no other babies remain outside, we recommend bringing the baby to Project Wildlife for evaluation and potential rehabilitation (See Box 2).
Renesting or Monitoring Infants
- Try to save the original nest (if needed or possible). If the nest was disturbed or damaged, gather materials from the nest (fur, twigs, grass) and assemble as close to the original location as possible. Do not add new materials or move the nest. Moms do not use smell or sight to find the nest. Rather, they use an “internal GPS system” to navigate back to the nest. They may not be able to find the nest if it is moved too far away from the original location.
- Return or leave baby in nest. Wearing gloves, return babies to the nest and cover with nesting material.
- Add twigs over nest. Place lightweight twigs over the nest in a tight tic-tac-toe pattern. If mom comes to nurse the babies, these sticks will be disturbed at the next check. We recommend taking a photo before leaving the nest.
- Recheck the nest the next morning. Look at the twigs over the nest to determine if mom came. If they are moved around, it indicates that the mom came, and no further monitoring is needed.
- Check for a milk line (see photo) if twigs are undisturbed. If the twigs are in the exact same pattern as you left them, the babies are likely orphaned. However, you can confirm this by checking for a “milk line” by picking up one of the babies, turning them over and looking at their stomach. You should be able to see a pale silhouette of milk* in their stomach if mom nursed them recently. If this is present, no further monitoring is needed. If this is not present, we recommend bringing the baby to Project Wildlife for evaluation and potential rehabilitation (See Box 2).
*Note: This can be difficult to see, especially when you aren’t used to looking for something like this! If you need help with this part, please take a photo of the baby’s belly, tuck baby back in and call Project Wildlife for further guidance.
If mom doesn’t return to the nest within 24 hours or the babies’ condition is worsening, we recommend bringing them to Project Wildlife for evaluation and potential rehabilitation (See Box 2).
Reuniting and Monitoring Juveniles
- Return or leave baby in the location where they were found. At this age, they are starting to move around their environment, and do not need a nest or supplemental heat. They may even be weaned from their mother’s milk and fully independent! They are very young and small when they become independent, so they can sometimes be slow to react to potential threats. This means even healthy, independent youngsters can be caught quite easily by humans.
- Recheck baby before dusk. Keep your distance and visually observe (without touching) the baby again before nightfall. If all appears well, leave them in place.
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If they haven’t moved at all (being in the same general area is okay, but not the exact same spot) or look worse than earlier, bring the baby inside for the night. Keep them in a container with lid, ventilation and heat source on one side overnight. Do not give them any food or water. Do not talk to, handle, cuddle or peek at the baby. We recommend bringing the baby to Project Wildlife in the morning for evaluation and potential rehabilitation (See Box 2).
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Recheck baby after dawn the next day. Keep your distance and visually observe (without touching) the baby again after dawn. If all appears well, no further monitoring is needed. If they look worse or haven’t moved at all, we recommend bringing the baby to Project Wildlife for evaluation and potential rehabilitation (See Box 2).
Box 2: Project Wildlife Drop-Off and Contact Information
You can drop off confirmed orphans during our admission hours: seven days a week, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. (excluding major holidays).
Project Wildlife
Pilar & Chuck Bahde Wildlife Center
5433 Gaines St.
San Diego, CA 92110
619-299-7012
sdhumane.org