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Oklahoma Gardening

Baby bunnies in the pepper bed

11 years ago

Saturday we found a nest with a few baby bunnies in it. The nest is between two pepper plants in a raised bed in a hole under some oak leaf mulch. Their eyes were not open yet but they were already what looked to me to be 8 to 12 days mature.

I flooded that bed with water 9 days before I saw them so I am guessing they must be younger than 9 days or would have been killed by the water. They grow really fast.

It's interesting that another pair that I first saw not much bigger lived in my sweet potatoes for a week or so before my dog got one. Those two looked to be about 4 weeks old just 2 weeks ago. I'm guessing same momma since I read they can have another litter within 30 days.

Maybe I can get some pictures tomorrow. I rarely get a chance like this to see them still in the nest unharmed. I don't think they will run yet. I didn't know until last year that the mother stays away and only visits the nest once per night to feed them.

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Comments (7)

chickencoupe
11 years ago
Awwwww!
scottokla
Original Author
11 years ago
Here are a couple of pictures of the little guys. It looked like maybe 4 of them in there. Their eyes just opened in the last 2 days.
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Can you tell me more about the scent trail? I didn't know about that. Of course, the baby bunnies I found our by our raised bed which I visit everyday anyways, so the scent trail is always there. I've seen the bunny hopping around the bed...almost stepped on it one day before it ran off (they hide well).. Today it rained and I saw it out there all soaked and shivering. I came close and it didn't hop away, and then I noticed a snail crawling on it (not kidding)--which gave me a big clue something was wrong. I decided to removed the snail and it still didn't hop away, and I noticed ants by it. I thought maybe it would help to get him somewhere dry and warm but since I know his mom is around and don't know where his nest is, I didn't want to take him where she couldn't find him. I remember finding some bunnies his size in shoes my kids left outside on one cold day, and my youngest just outgrew a pair, so I put the shoe next to him and sort of nudged him into it. As I did I notice his bottom had blood on it. So ang...something may have already gotten to him. I took the shoe about 5 feet away to the other side of the raised bed, away from the ants--and also put something over it to shield the rain (not directly over it so he couldn't get out...but leaning on our raised bed like a lean-to with enough room for the mom to get in.) So, any advice on what to do now would be appreciated, or what to do differently next time. Cause, bunnies often make nests in our yard so there probably will be a next time.
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biradarcm
11 years ago
Scott, they are beautiful!
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
11 years ago
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.
scottokla
Original Author
11 years ago
Would you believe I found another nest this afternoon in the kids sandbox. These are a few days younger than the first nest. Looks like 4 of them.

I found two little bunnies while mowing off an area of field in early May and released them into my garden area (I now know they love sweet potato plants!). Maybe those two are now old enough to have their own babies now.

Like you Dawn, I usually find them while mowing. They will run from the sound of a close mower, but I can seldom find them myself when they stop running.
sheri_nwok
11 years ago
Awww...So cute!! Thanks for sharing Scott.
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
11 years ago
The only bad thing about such a good bunny year is that it will be followed by a good coyote year.

Sometimes when I am walking across a burned field, I'll find rabbits in their holes who apparently stayed in the hole and had the fire burn over then. I always bend over and look down in the hole to make sure the rabbit wasn't burned. It amazes me that they choose to stay in the holes (which usually aren't real deep) instead of trying to outrun the flames. I'm glad their instincts are to stay in the hole beneath the soil surface.

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