Wild Baby Rabbit Care

Let's say you're out in your yard doing some yard work and you happen to see a wild baby rabbit. You stand and take notice and watch it hop away, and like most people, you will follow it to see where it might go. Let's say the rabbit seems injured in some way and you don't know what to do for it. What should you do? Seek help first!

Wild rabbits often make their nests in areas that boggle our minds... sometimes right in the middle of your front or backyard. They are hiding in plain sight as often as they can to keep from predators that they naturally fear that would be too timid to enter those areas. They don't count on the family dog or cat also being a problem though.

The way that a mother rabbit cares for the babies limits her time in the nest, which further makes it less likely a predator will find the nest. So if you find a nest of baby rabbits, think twice before doing anything that requires that you touch the baby rabbits or disturb the nest. If you see one that is injured, DO NOT TOUCH it unless you have Wildlife Rehabilitation Permit (68A-9.006 in Florida) as it is illegal to handle a wild rabbit even if it's in your own yard. Contact either the Humane Society or the Wildlife Department in your area if you have a concern about a wild rabbit that might need assistance. If you happen to find a nest that has been disturbed, do all you can to restore and protect it rather than bring the baby rabbits inside. If a dog has discovered the nest, you can put a wheelbarrow over it, so that the mother can get to it but the dog can't.

Very young wild baby bunnies with eyes closed and ears back rarely survive in captivity, even given the most expert human care; I know this because I do it for a living and so it is very important to determine whether they really need help. If help isn't available in your area, try to assess whether the infants seem warm and healthy or cold, thin, and dehydrated. One test for dehydration is to gently pinch the loose skin at the back of the neck. If it stays in a "tent," the bunny is dehydrated and needs rehabilitation. Another test is to stroke the genital area to stimulate elimination. I know that sounds strange but it's necessary if you want to help the rabbit. If the pee is brown and gritty, the mother rabbit has not been there to help the bunnies urinate. The brown, gritty urine is toxic, and the infant bunny must be cared for ASAP! If there is no help in your area, you can call the National Wildlife Federation or even the World Wildlife Federation and they can get help to your area.

Happy Trails! #WildlifeWednesday

Grey-breasted Prinia

The Grey-breasted Prinia (Prinia hodgsonii), also known as Tea Gobbling Birds, is originally from Eastern India. They forage in the tea bushes and come up for a look every now and then.

This skulking passerine bird is typically found in open woodlands, scrub jungles, and other open areas with some grass type of grass. Grey-breasted Prinia builds its nest in tall grass and lays 3–4 eggs.

These 4 to 5 in long birds have short rounded wings, a longish tail, strong legs and a short black bill. In breeding plumage, adults are grey-brown above, with no supercilium, a black eye stripe and orange eyering. They have a rufous wing panel. Grey-breasted Prinia's underparts are white with a grey breast band. The sexes are identical.

Non-breeding birds have browner upper part plumage and a white supercilium, but lack the breast band. Young birds are like non-breeding adults but more rufous above. There are a number of subspecies. The distinctive greyer endemic race in Sri Lanka, retains summer-type plumage all year round.

Like most warblers, Grey-breasted Prinia is insectivorous. The song is a repetitive chiwee-chiwee-chiwee-chip-chip-chip.


Happy Trails!

Red Sea Underwater Village

I found this to be very interesting as I had never heard of it before yesterday. This underwater village in the Red Sea was built by Jacques Cousteau in the 1950's to discover whether humans could ever live underwater. This video shows some of the village as it's visited by his grandson Philippe Cousteau.



Happy trails!

Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly

I was out in the yard doing some yard work today and I noticed a butterfly I had not seen in a long time. I couldn't put my finger on what the name of it was so I looked it up in my butterfly book and going by the colors of it, I found it rather quickly. I double checked online to make sure and sure enough, I had the right one.

It's called a Spicebush Swallowtail and it's one of four Florida butterflies that mimic the toxic Pipevine Swallowtail to gain protection from predators. I never knew that before today. Adult Spicebush's are strong agile fliers with a wingspan of 3 to 5 inches, but this butterfly rarely strays far from its preferred woodland habitat. A true lover of flowers, the Spicebush Swallowtail readily ventures out to nearby open areas in search of nectar. These butterflies continually flutter their wings while feeding. Larvae create shelters by curling up the edges of leaves with silk. They rest motionless inside when not actively feeding. At maturity, the larvae turn yellow and search for a site to pupate.

I was going to take some pictures of it but you know how that goes, if you want something bad enough and you run inside to get the camera, it will be gone by the time you get back and sure enough, it was gone. Once I found what it was, I just grabbed a picture of it from a nature site I often visit. I hope they don't mind. lol

Happy trails!

20 Facts About Rabbits

20 facts you need to know about rabbits if you were planning on getting one or just curious about them:

- A male rabbit is a buck.
- A female rabbit is a doe.
- A baby rabbit is a kit.
- They aren't rodents by any means! The are Lagomorphs.
- The gestation period is 30 days, gave or take a day.
- Their teeth never stop growing.
- They can be litter trained.
- Pet rabbits can live as long as 10 years.
- They purr much like a cat does.
- Domesticated rabbits can't breed with wild rabbits.
- Domesticated rabbits are born without fur.
- They require hay to assist the digestive system.
- They eat their own night droppings. (yuk!)
- The droppings make for a great garden fertilizer.
- They have 28 teeth.
- They love to chew.
- They groom themselves.
- They start breeding as early as 3 months of age.
- They sweat only through the pads on their feet.
- Never leave a rabbit in full sun as they can have a heat stroke.

Happy Trails!

Back From The Wild

I can't believe it's been over a year since I was last on my own blog. That's embarrassing! I have been very busy though and not one minute of that time away from here was wasted. Time to turn over a new leaf on here and get back to what I used to love to do, that being this blog. :)

Since my last post, I have traveled to China again for 4 days, been back to Ireland for 10 days, spent 6 months in South Africa, and about to start another round of classes in college at the end of this month. Oh joy......

My time in South Africa was spent at a wildlife refuge and I plan on returning there one day as I learned a great deal about what my future is going to be. I've always wanted to be a veterinarian and that dream is almost complete. I'm working part time as a veterinarian assistant and along with my classes and my time at the wildlife refuge, which I got credit for, by this time next year, I will be free of the learning phase and venturing out on my own. I look forward to that very much.

My freedom will only last so long, as my ultimate goal is to be a wildlife surgeon. I want to be able to travel the globe and help wildlife animals that are in need of help, no matter what it is. Far fetched? Maybe, but I was always told to follow my dreams and that is what I'm doing. The animals need me and I need them. :)

More soon......Happy trails everyone! :)

Chinese rabbit-crushing

I was appalled when I first heard of this so called "rabbit crushing" for fun. I was even mad. No, I was furious would be more like it and I hardly ever get mad about anything. I first read about this act that some of the people in China were doing to my beloved rabbits and I knew I had to stick my nose into it in whatever way I could.

I began researching this vile act and would you believe I found videos of people crushing rabbits by placing a glass plate on them and then they sat on them until the rabbit died. I was horrified to see that! To make it worse, YouTube allowed this vile act to be posted on there website for all to see too, which has since been removed and banned by the way. I have a disgusted taste for YouTube right now, as them allowing it to be published in the first place had me wondering what kind of people were running that place. Turns out Google, which runs Blogger too, runs it. I think I burst a blood vessel knowing my host was allowed this to happen. What could I do about it? Hmmm......

It got me thinking alright and I wasted no time in contacting a few higher ups I know within the animal kingdoms chain of command. They banded together to get the videos taken down and eventually banned from YouTube, but it wasn't an easy matter to make it happen. I contacted my local chapter of the SPCA, then the House Rabbit Society, and so on and so on, and then they took it to the next level, and so on and so on it went up the ladder.

You have to understand my views on this. I love rabbits! I love them more than you know about and to witness the one video I saw, it made my heart hurt for weeks knowing they were dying for no reason at all. They were not wild rabbits, they were domesticated ones, pets! Killing innocent and helpless pets just so they could get a laugh out of it. That is plainly sick! I felt more had to be done. It had to be done to make the rabbits safer. Through the many wildlife agencies around the world, word got out fast about this cruel act, country by country lining up to get the videos and pictures taken down across Europe, up through Russia, and down to Australia.

I was invited to go to China this past spring, along with other animals lovers who needed to get the word out through that country and other hidden countries that seem to think animals are playthings for them to hurt for no reason at all. We got a three day Visa to visit China and even got the chance to voice our opinions about this rabbit crushing event that was sweeping through there country. They did know about it, the Chinese government that is, and they seemed to take a lot more interest in it as 15 countries were pressing them to do something more about it. Did the visit help any? I think it did, as there own news agency, which is governed by there own government, acknowledged there was a problem and that they were going to do what they could to make a difference.

Since that visit, a few rings have been broken up and arrested for cruelty to animals. I don't know what they do to people in China for abusing and killing animals at random, but I know it's more severe that what more free countries do. I'm hoping this gets stopped worldwide before it's gets to out of hand. If a communist country can stop, listen to what concerned people have to say and do something about it, then it shouldn't be a problem to handle anywhere else in the world either.

If you ever see or hear about an animal being abused, let someone know. Call the police if you have to. Thanks.

Happy Trails!

Calvin & Hobbes - Best Buds

This became my favorite of all time when I first saw it and it should become yours too. I made a copy of it and have it pinned on my bulletin board in the Bunny Barn.

Pet Reversal

A day in the life of a rabbit. Have you ever wondered what it might be like? I sure have. I know what they do, what they eat, how they act, there moods, and so on, but what would it really feel like? Would you be miserable, happy you could sleep all day if you wanted, or maybe something else? Think about it though, is changing places with your pet, (in a fantasy type world), a good idea?

Let's say you got to change places for a day. You are laying in a pile of hay, on your back with your paws stuck outward and feeling like a king or queen of the bunny world. So relaxing! Then, you get an itch on your back and you can't reach it. Oh crap! You rub and rub your back against the cage but the itch is still there. Misery! Your owner comes in and see's you are acting funny and thinks you are either hungry or need some love, like most owners do and think. You wag your butt at your owner hoping he or she will scratch your itch, but no, they instead insert a pile of food into your feeding bin that looks more like rabbit poop than what you were used to eating. You poke your nose up at your owner begging for a scratch of relief and all you get is a tap on the head a few times, then he/she walks way. You are screwed as your itch is still there!


You continue your scratching against the cage, wagging your butt harder and harder trying to reach the itch, but all it is doing is getting the attention of the other rabbits and they could care less about your itch. lol You stop and take notice of the other rabbits staring at you, most with that rabbit gleam in there eyes, and now you know you are really up a creek without a paddle. First the itch, now a bunch of, let's say...horny...rabbits wanting you.

It's not looking to well now, now is it? lol Do you really want to be your pet? I doubt it. I mean, what would you do if in that position? Think about it the next time you might want to be your pet for a day. Imagine mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks having a field day in your fur. The thought of it gives me shivers.

If I had to put a "moral to a story" here, it would be to scratch and love your pet all over and not a couple pats only on there head. They can't speak and I know they have itches they can't reach, like many of my cats, and when I scratch them all over, they love it and give me love back, just as my rabbits do. Make there day with some much needed love and you will be rewarded.

Happy Trails