08/20/2025
🚨Please Read – Important Message🚨
Yesterday I had an interaction with a finder that shows exactly what rehabbers deal with far too often.
I was messaged that someone’s dog had discovered a bunny nest and killed one of the babies. The finder told me they had wrapped the rest in a towel, put them in a box, and moved them to the front yard under a tree. Then they sent me a photo.
I explained the best option: protect the original nest for 3–4 weeks until the babies move on. That answer didn’t sit well. Suddenly these bunnies were my problem to handle.
I lined up a rehabber nearby and asked if they could bring the babies just 10 minutes away. The response? “No, I have an infant and won’t touch them.” The neighbor who first messaged me had no car. When I pointed out why what they had done was illegal and harmful, I got fired back at with rudeness and blame.
👉 Here are a few things people may not realize:
Removing or tampering with an active wildlife nest is illegal. I don’t care if your neighbor’s husband is a sheriff—wildlife law is not optional.
Each baby bunny costs about $50 to rehab. That’s formula, greens for weaning, meds if needed, and the supplies required to raise them to release. Multiply that by the hundreds already admitted this season, and you can imagine the strain on resources.
We are all volunteers. We have jobs, kids, pets, and responsibilities of our own. Yet we still dedicate our limited free time to help wildlife because it matters.
And here’s the hard truth: when healthy bunnies come into care simply because they’re inconvenient, that takes time, energy, and space away from the truly injured or orphaned animals who desperately need it.
Meanwhile, the poor mother rabbit is left full of milk, frantically searching for babies that will never be there again. 💔 Put yourself in her position—leaving your kids for a short while only to return and find them gone forever.
The North Country bunny team has already cared for hundreds of bunnies this season alone. Many were successfully re-nested and protected, even in yards with dogs. There are always options if people are willing to listen and work with us.
But here’s the bottom line: if you don’t like the answer we give, that doesn’t give you the right to lash out at us, threaten to let babies die, or bully volunteers who are simply trying to help. That is NOT okay.
We’re here to guide, educate, and work with you. But your actions have real consequences for the animals and for the rehabbers cleaning up after them.
Do better. The animals deserve it.
