Baby Cottontail Question

[quailheart]

We found a nest of baby cottontails in our yard. Recently when we were looking at it we noticed something smelled really bad. We looked through the nest and found a dead baby rabbit. I don’t know exactly when it died but it looked like it was dead for a while. Do you think the mother will abandoned the nest? How can I tell if she has? I just want to make sure so I can contact a wildlife rehab if I need to. Thanks!

 

[CapricornFarm]

We found a nest of baby cottontails in our yard. Recently when we were looking at it we noticed something smelled really bad. We looked through the nest and found a dead baby rabbit. I don’t know exactly when it died but it looked like it was dead for a while. Do you think the mother will abandoned the nest? How can I tell if she has? I just want to make sure so I can contact a wildlife rehab if I need to. Thanks!

Other babies will be dehydrated, won't have fat tummies.

 

[AltonaAcres]

Usually one in the litter doesn't survive. That could be the case. It is not safe for the live ones to be in there with the dead one

 

[quailheart]

Thanks everyone. We took the dead one out when we found it. Today when I was going to check on them, they weren’t there! They are only around a week old, so I know They didn’t leave the nest on their own. Could their mom have moved them? We have a camera in our front yard and we didn’t see any animals getting to them. We looked all around our yard but there is no trace of them. Hmmmmm. Maybe I’ll see them around in the future, hope they weren’t eaten!!!

 

[AltonaAcres]

Sorry to say it was probably a snake. The mom could have moved them, but wild rabbit moms don't usually return to a disrupted nest. At least you tried to help!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Rabbits don't normally move their babies