Cottontail Cottage Wildlife Rehab

12/03/2024

$10 can truly change a life 🤍

At Cottontail Cottage, we are 100% volunteer-operated. Every single penny you donate goes straight to providing love, care, and healing to the animals who need it most.

We may not be a huge organization, but we are a small, dedicated team on a mission to show that kindness can—and does—extend to every living being, especially those right in our backyards.

With your support, we can give even more animals a second chance in 2025. This , a simple $10 could be the spark that helps us make that dream come true. Will you help us?

Even if you can’t donate now your support, sharing and kind comments mean the world to us always 🥹

10/28/2024

🦇✨ Did you know that bats are just as crucial to our ecosystem as butterflies? 🌍💚 Even though it’s world bathing week these incredible creatures are often overlooked, but they play a vital role in pollination just like our beloved butterflies! 🦋❤️

Sadly, due to the devastating effects of White-nose syndrome, up to 90% of certain bat species have disappeared. 😢

🌿 Why Bats Matter:

• Pest Control: Bats feast on thousands of insects nightly, helping protect our crops and reducing pesticide use! 🐜🚫

• Pollinators: Just like butterflies, bats are key pollinators for many plants, including bananas and agave (the star of your favorite cocktails! 🍹).

• Seed Dispersers: They play a crucial role in spreading seeds, fostering forest growth and biodiversity! 🌱🌳

⚠️ Threats to Bats:

• Habitat loss 🏡

• Climate change 🌡️

• Disease (like White-nose syndrome) 🦠
Bats are facing serious threats, and it’s up to us to help them!

💚 Join the Movement!

• Build a Bat House: Create safe roosting spots in your backyard. 🏠

• Plant Native & Pesticide Free: Cultivate a bat-friendly garden with native plants that attract insects. 🌼🌿

• Spread Awareness: Share this post and educate your friends about why bats deserve our love! 📲💬

08/01/2024

Little Ellie came to us late one night after being discovered at the bottom of a trash bin doused in oil. How she got there we really aren’t certain... She was so scared, still too young to be away from her mom she was lost and starving. Luckily a kind woman found her, called our hotline and brought her to us. 🤍

We got her warm, fed and gave her a super comfy spot with lots of blankets to hideaway in. She needed some extra TLC for a few days but came around beautifully! Today was bittersweet because we said goodbye and sent Ellie up to our friend Claire at Wild by Nurture so she could join another single opossum friend her age 🥹

Dear Ellie, we love you and will miss you but know you’ll be so happy to have the love and companionship of another opossum.

Stories like this are why we dedicate our lives to saving these beautiful, misunderstood animals 🤍

05/25/2024

Did you know that groundhogs are an intricate part of our ecosystem? The digging of their burrows helps to their loosen and aerate the soil. It also helps to turn the ground, by bringing deep seated and rich soil up to the surface. Their f***s inside their burrows actually helps to fertilize the soil deep underground.

They are also an intricate part of the food chain and are hunted by several predator species.

Many other small mammals, amphibians and reptiles rely on abandoned groundhog dens, for shelter.

In spring and early summer, mother groundhogs are raising their families. The removal of a female groundhog from your property can mean certain doom for her little ones.

Despite what some may say, a groundhog’s burrow rarely causes any issues with the foundation of someone’s home. They simply aren’t large enough.

If you must evict a groundhog from your property, we suggest placing dirty kitty litter or ammonia sprinkled rags down the burrow. Groundhogs react to a strong urine odor as a potential predator and this will often encourage them to leave.

Please wait until late summer or early fall to do this so that babies are old enough to be in their own.

To keep groundhogs out of your garden we suggest a 3-4 foot mesh fence that is wobbly. It must be wobbly! They are good climbers, but the movement will make discourage them from trying.

We also suggest putting that fence about 6 inches under the ground and have it in an “L” shape facing away from the garden. This way, when they try to dig under the fence, they will hit a wall of resistance.

They are fascinating creatures and don’t mean you any harm. They are trying to get by, just like me and you.

Let us all practice tolerance. Let’s live and let live…

05/23/2024

“We wish you had called sooner, we wish we could have helped save them…”

Unfortunately, this is what I had to tell two different well meaning but extremely misguided people today when callers reached out to us on our hotline to ask for help with rabbits they had accidentally stolen from their nests 4 and 6 days ago.

If they had called sooner we could have told them mom would be back, she only visits them twice a day.

If they had called sooner the babies wouldn’t have starved and got fluid in their lungs after they attempted to feed them KMR from a kitten baby bottle.

If they had called sooner they would probably still be alive.

But they didn’t call us until they started dying, until it was almost promised that they wouldn’t make it no matter how hard we try. Of course we helped them anyways but it’s so disheartening to know that things could have been so different if they would have just made the call to us instead of driving to the pet store to get supplies to DIY as an illegal Rehabber.

Rehabbers aren’t telling you to bring us wildlife because we want to steal your fun, we’re telling you to bring them to us because they won’t survive unless you do. Do the right thing, put down the kitten milk and open the animal help now app to find a licensed wildlife rehabber in your area.

Save us all a little bit of heartbreak 💔

(The baby in the photo is fine, he was brought to us immediately for care)

05/18/2024

Some behind the scenes info: It took a team effort from Westchester’s wildlife Rehabbers to make sure Playland was aware of the Osprey nest and ensure it was not destroyed. Thank you to Katherine Murphy for spearheading this!

& Thank you to CBS New York for sharing information about these magnificent birds 🤍

Two ospreys have built a nest on top of the park's Ferris wheel, which means the ride won't open this weekend. CBS New York's Tony Aiello reports.

05/01/2024

If you encounter a juvenile opossum in the wild they might need help! Opossum mommas have their hands full with up to 13 babies and sometimes one will fall off leaving them orphaned and in need of our help 😰

We’ve partnered with our friend Claire at Wild by Nurture to share some tips on how to tell if an opossum needs help. Claire is a NY licensed wildlife rehabber who specializes in saving these amazing marsupials 🤍

Have you ever seen an opossum in the wild? Comment below with a 🍇 if you think opossums are adorable 🥰

04/12/2024

NBC was kind enough to feature us in a spotlight showcasing some of what we do here at Cottontail Cottage as wildlife Rehabbers.

04/06/2024

If you were sick or injured you would probably go to a doctor not a restaurant...
🚑 🤔 🍔
The same goes for wildlife!

Wildlife Rehabbers warn against feeding injured and orphaned animals not because we want to spoil your fun, but because we see how often it can end in disaster. Many times an animal in the state they are found cannot safely ingest food without first being cared for. 😳

There’s so many elements that go into caring for wildlife. Many of the tools and formulas we use are not available at your local pet store and Google is not a reliable resource for what to do unfortunately. ⚠️ Feeding an animal the wrong way can cause; aspiration pneumonia, diarrhea, shock and death. ‼️

Don’t spending valuable time gathering supplies and attempting to feed the kindest thing you can do is open the Animal Help Now app on your phone and contact a local wildlife rehabber. They will have the skills, knowledge and tools to be able to properly guide you on next steps and legally provide the best care. 🤍

03/23/2024

STOP ✋ Don’t remove those kits (baby rabbits) from the nest before checking if they have actually been abandoned. Their best chance of survival is with their mom! So let’s talk a bit about how to properly make sure mom is coming back to the nest to feed her babies.

95% of the time when a caller reaches out to us about an “abandoned” nest, the nest has not actually been abandoned they simply have a misconception about how often they should be seeing mom. Momma rabbit will only visit the nest 2 times a day, around dusk/dawn and when she does it’s for a very brief period of time. This isn’t bad parenting, it’s to prevent predators from being attracted to the nest, which is camouflaged and completely scentless.

You will likely NEVER actually see momma rabbit going to the nest, she purposefully will not approach the nest when she feels a predator is watching and yes, rabbits do consider us predators! 😰

Using the stick method will determine if mom is coming back since she will move the sticks to the side to feed her babies. 🤍 It’s important to remember that if the babies look healthy you need to wait for at least 2 feedings to be skipped before you remove the babies from the nest. It’s quite common for a mother rabbit to skip 1 or even 2 feedings if she feels there has been increased activity around her nest. This could be due to construction, dogs or even an increased presence of people.

Do not unnecessarily handle the kits, if you are worried use the Animal Help Now app to contact a wildlife rehabber in your area.

Want to know what a nest looks like? Check the comments for a graphic of what to look for before starting yard work.

03/20/2024

According to the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation cottontail rabbits are among the most kidnapped mammals 😳

Well intentioned people will often see a juvenile rabbit outside and immediately assume the baby needs help. Sadly, human interaction will most often result in their death.

They might look little but Cottontail rabbits are independent from a very young age. They will leave the nest at only a few weeks old. So don’t be surprised when you see a young rabbit alone, they instinctively know what to do all on their own.

One of the most frustrating aspects of this is when people choose to kidnap wildlife, never attempt to call a Rehabber but instead head to the pet store and keep them as pets. We had several wild rabbits surrendered to us last year after being kept as pets where they lived their entire lives in small cages. 😔

Not only is it illegal to keep wildlife as pets it also won’t end up being the cute and cuddly experience you are probably hoping for. Most young wild rabbits will simply die in an inexperienced persons care. The ones that do survive maintain all the wild instincts they need for survival so despite being caged, they will be fearful and afraid of handling.

Wildlife should stay wild and as someone that works very closely with wild rabbits and other native wildlife I promise you they want to be in the wild.

If you aren’t sure if a rabbit needs help use the Animal Help Now app to quickly connect with a licensed wildlife rehabber in your area.

03/17/2024

Do you check your yard for rabbit nests before mowing? Protecting the nest with a laundry basket is an easy way to make sure they don’t accidentally get mowed over, while also offering extra safety from predators. 🤍🐰🤍

03/17/2024

It might shock you to find out it’s very common for rabbits to place their nests in the middle of lawns and rabbits especially love yards with dogs.😅 This is actually a choice they make to help reduce predators like foxes and coyotes, the open space and dogs nearby help keep their nest safe.

A quick walk around the garden before starting yard work can prevent the tragedy of running a nest of kits over.

Please share to save little lives. 🤍

03/11/2024

Live trapping an animal might sound like a harmless idea but unfortunately it can often have cruel consequences.

From March through August many animals are raising babies, this is when we most often see them utilize attics, chimneys and other easy to access spaces to tuck away their little ones. So when you trap and relocate momma you’re very likely leaving babies behind to starve to death and taking her to a place where she has no food, shelter or water. Can you imagine how scary it would be for someone to kidnap you and leave you in the middle of a new place you’ve never been?

Instead of removing animals with traps, you can humanely evict them using lights, noise and smell like vinegar on rags. This will make them uncomfortable enough to decide they want to find another place for their babies. Once they leave and you’ve confirmed all babies are gone, the access points they were using need to be sealed so you can make sure the area is off limits for the future.

Wildlife are losing so much of their nesting spaces to development, please show kindness to them. They don’t understand that it’s not okay to go into that hole in your attic, they just see it as a safe, warm place. If you want to help wildlife placing nesting boxes on your property can be a great gift for them.

02/26/2024

THE REAL REASON WILDLIFE REHABBERS ASK YOU NOT TO FEED THAT BABY…

It’s not because we want to hog all the fun for ourselves, I promise. It’s because wild orphans aren’t typically healthy enough to digest food, when they are found.

Many are hypothermic. The body can’t even handle water when its temperature is too low. All energy is going to crucial body functions in that state. If the body has to divert energy to digesting, it will likely be fatal.

Many are very dehydrated. Animals can’t digest properly when they are dehydrated. The body pulls water into the intestines to aid with digestion. If there isn’t any water to pull from, this could cause a domino affect of problems.

All wild baby animals require a specific diet and that diet generally isn’t available in local stores. Feeding the wrong milk could cause an upset stomach or worse.

All baby animals need specific amounts of formula calculated by their body weight. The percentage differs depending on the species.

Not every animal can drink from a bottle. The correct instrument must be used to prevent aspiration and over feeding.

Bring me a thin, dehydrated, hypothermic animal and I can probably save it. Feed that same animal before you bring it to me…there’s likely nothing I can do to bring it back.

So please, don’t feed any wild orphans that you have found this baby season. Keeping them warm is a huge help until you find a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

Picture: Baby otter, Emmet.

01/26/2024

It’s not everyday an opossum sends you a Valentine’s Day card and cookies 💌🍪 😉

Rufus is ready to help us send some love and sweet treats to you or your someone special 💕💋 100% of the proceeds from our V-Day cards benefit the care of the animals at Cottontail Cottage, so we can buy cotton candy grapes for Rufus of course 😜

Valentine Card Orders 💌

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1652064976/youre-opossum-valentines-day-card?click_key=f0f28627a72ee0d6338686e0ed2bfd04fb037b14%3A1652064976&click_sum=a5c57794&ref=shop_home_active_1&frs=1

Cookie Dough Orders 🍪

https://chocolateandthechip.com/collections/cottontail-cottage-wildlife-rehab-fundraiser

01/10/2024

You know that old pine that looks like it might fall on your house the next time there’s a bad storm? Or how about that oak branch dangling by a thread, just over your porch? What about that those branches that are about to run against your roof and need to be trimmed back?

You keep putting off when you’ll get tree work done, but NOW is the time to do it! Please don’t wait! Starting as early as mid-February, baby animals of all kinds— songbirds, owls, squirrels, raccoons, and more— will be nesting in trees. The older and more rotten the tree, the more likely it is that it will be home to baby animals. Each year, baby animals die or become abandoned when their tree homes are cut or trimmed. We’ve seen many heartbreaking cases of baby animals crushed when a tree falls. In a particularly awful case, a mother raccoon attacked a chainsaw in an effort I defend her young, who the worker hadn’t even noticed. (She did not survive 💔 and the tree trimmer was traumatized, but the babies survived.)

While good tree workers will check for baby animals, even the very best won’t always see tiny baby animals, which may be hidden deep inside hollows or in small, inconspicuous nests surrounded by leaves and twigs.

The best way to prevent these tragedies is to have tree work done in winter, particularly January, because last year’s babies are likely independent and this year’s babies generally haven’t been born.

Plus, trimming trees during their winter dormancy is healthier for the tree, as well!

Please don’t wait. Help us save lives by getting any tree work done now instead of waiting until spring and summer.

12/25/2023

🙏 Kindness is free