The other night I was in my basement doing laundry, when I heard something crawling through a pile of face plates. I saw it emerging from the pile and kept hoping it was not a mouse. No, it turned out to be a baby bat. Wings spread wide, crawling along as best it could. I happened to have the dryer lint trap in my hand, so I put it on top of the bat and looked for something to carry it out in. I ended up finding a box and took the bat outside and put it in the backyard. I have no idea why its wings stayed wide open as it walked, but I have to assume it was able to signal its mother for help.
One hour later I let my dog out in the front yard, and decided to go out on the porch and keep an eye on her. I don't know why, I usually just let her out and wait for her to come back to the front door. I knew we had a rabbit warren in the middle of our front yard, so I made sure she did not get near that. A few minutes later I saw her dig her snout into the lawn and come up with some creature in her mouth. I screamed at her to drop it, and she did. I saw a small creature scamper away, but I could see that it was wounded.
It ran into the street, so I went to find something to pick it up with. Turns out it was a baby bunny, and something was wrong with its hind legs. I got it to crawl up on a piece of cardboard and I took it back to the warren in the middle of my lawn. I could tell it was exhausted from trying to get away as it just laid there and did not move. My hope was that the mother would come back and take care of it, as I made a point of not touching it with my hand. I know that sometimes a human touch can put off the mother.
The next morning the bunny was still lying there, so my other half picked it up and put it in a small box. We called our vet and asked what we should do. He said to bring it in and he would take a look. Turns out that the bunny's right leg had been recently broken and could not be set. The vet said that our dog had not done this just by picking it up for a few seconds. It had probably been pounced on by a cat or something. He told us it was a boy and that it would not be able to survive long in the wild with a broken leg. He recommended that we have him put to sleep.
Of course you know we could not do that. So we brought him home, bought him a cage and named him Wilbur. He doesn't really have any teeth yet, so we bought some baby food (mushed carrots, of course) and shredded some whole carrots as well. We also bring him dandelion leaves and tall grass to eat as well. The doctor had given us a hypodermic needle full of pain killer, and we were told to give him two drops by mouth every 12 hours.
During those first few days he would not eat much. Once the painkiller ran out, his appetite returned. He now eats like a swine and poops like a champ. He seems to be moving around a lot better, though he still drags his broken leg behind him. I know of several friends who are willing to take him, but we want to make sure his leg has healed enough so that he is not in any pain.
We take him out of his cage every day and try to get him some exercise. He seems to be getting used to us and is no longer frightened as we hold him near our hearts. He will even let us watch him eat, with his tiny little mouth.
I know we did the right thing. I just could not let nature take its course and let him die in the wild. I only hope that we can find him a rabbit's life that is worth living. Pampered, but in a caged world.
