The rabbits seem to know alot about reproducing and surviving, I think they know what they are doing. They drive my dog crazy. They must be short of food in this heatwave, the rabbits ate 95+% of the leaves off my carrots this week, totally ignored them before. In a couple of days, just stems left. I assume that the carrots will still keep in the ground the rest of the summer, adn I can pull whenever I feel like.

They are SO cute! We have found nests like this in the pasture while mowing. Luckily we set the mower high enough that we've always gone over the top of the nests so no bunnies are harmed. (Bet they have been pretty scared by the mower though.) We always stop and pile some of the cut tall grasses back over the nest to give them back the protection we just removed from the nest while mowing. One of our cats, Moose, used to find nests of bunnies and bring them to us one after another. He wouldn't hurt them, but just would pick them up and carry them to us in his mouth like a mama cat carries kittens. We'd have to follow him back to the nest, put the bunnies back, and keep him inside for a couple of weeks until they had grown up and left the nest. I think bunnies are so adorable, young or old, unless they are in the garden eating plants. Then they suddenly are a lot less cute.

You did the right thing, putting them back and creating a marker to see if she returns. Just check, without coming close to the nest, to see if the leaves were moved. If the leaves are moved, all is well and mom is taking care of her babies. If the leaves are intact, get the name of a wildlife rehabilitator and ask exactly how you can transport them for care. Regarding the littlest one: mom will take care of it. Runts often survive. Try to keep away from the nest, because that leaves a scent trail for raccoons, foxes and coyotes.

A day or so after my husband mowed the lawn he pointed out a bare spot in the middle of the back yard. He said it wasn't there when he mowed. So I decided to take a closer look. I poked around with a twig and was frightened by movement and what appeared to me to be the head of a small snake. On closer look I thought it was a rodent and immediately wanted it out of there. Poking some more, I counted 3. So I put on gloves, removed them and the nesting material under a tree in an unsold lot adjacent to our unfenced backyard. I then went on the internet to see what I could find out. Baby bunnies...don't remove the nest....yada, yada. Now I panicked thinking Mom would abandon them. One did not appear very alert...almost comatose. Frightened or in danger? Periodically I looked out to see if Mom was there and she showed up over the nest. Back to the internet for more research.T wo days now and I only saw her that once. The babies were about 3-4 inches long, ears back, eyes closed and plump bellies. At 6:30a yesterday I checked to see if they were there and breathing and arranged some twigs over the nest so I could see if the nest was disturbed later as proof Mom returned. Late that afternoon/early evening it became a gully washer with thunder and lightning and I feared their nest would be flooded. The best I could do was put a folding canvas camp chair over the nest. An hour or more later I looked out and it was blown over. Dashed out and flipped it over so it formed more of a tent over the nest and then worried I was too late. 4:00a this morning I went out with a flashlight and changed the chair a bit to make it maybe a little easier for Mom. I was shocked to see the babies (only 2) huddled on top of the nest completely exposed. I fear the comatose one didn't make it. Now I'm checking every few minutes to see if Mom is there with them. It's not raining right now but threatening. I don't know if they are out of the nest because it's flooded or the sibling died and Mom got them out. It's 74 outside and I worry I'd they are warm enough. It's thundering and lightening again, but not raining. They looked healthy, but not quite as frisky as they were the day I moved them briefly. What's the danger to them now? They look much bigger than they were when I first found them. I recall seeing the Mom sitting in the lawn a day or two before my husband pointed out the bare spot. I'm guessing they are maybe 5-7 days old now. Seems she put them in the worst possible location, right in clear sight. Could she be ready to move their nest elsewhere? Maybe I shouldn't worry about them as this is probably very common in nature. It's just the first time I've witnessed it!