Cadbury                                                              January

Here is a story about Cadbury, written by his Dad:

Living out in the country, there is abundant wildlife around.  One of the most common forms of wildlife on the high plains is the cottontail rabbit, and hardly a day goes by that I don’t see at least one in the yard.  I have attempted to rescue many injured and frightened cottontails over the last two decades with some success (treat and release), but one defied all the odds to become a wonderful pet.  After all, according to the experts, cottontail rabbits never tame up and make horrible pets.

Cadbury was rescued from our dog who was chasing him around the front yard licking him.  Our dog was not hurting him, but young cottontail rabbits (about 3 weeks old at the time) don’t know that.  I found him later that evening in shock and cold.  I have brought rabbits in before that were in shock and/or injured, and I usually warm them up by holding them (if cold) and then put them in a box overnight.  They will either be jumping around the box trying to get out the next morning or else dead.

Cadbury did not fit the mold of what was supposed to happen.  After he warmed up and his nose started twitching again, I put him in a box with a little food.  I did not hear him bouncing around the box the next morning so I thought he was dead.  When I opened the box, he was a little scared but calm and had eaten all the food I had put in the box.  I put my hand in and he came over and started licking it.  So I decided to give him a few days to recover completely from the shock and then took him in to Dr Pierce for a checkup and some advice on bunnies.  Dr. Pierce examined Cadbury and gave him a clean bill of health.  She also provided a lot of useful info on raising a rabbit to someone who was much more familiar with dogs and cats.  One of Dr. Pierce’s last comments was that Cadbury was acting pretty much like a domesticated bunny.  So I decided to give him a chance to live indoors instead of being a meal for the local foxes or coyotes.

As you can tell from the photos, Cadbury has adapted well to being an indoor pet.  He enjoys being petted and sitting in my lap while munching on treats.  During his daily exercise time, he alternates between running circles around the dining room table while performing bunny binkies and licking my hands and arms.  He gets along well with the dog that nearly scared him to death and is friends with one of the family cats.  Dr. Pierce neutered Cadbury a couple of months ago, and she did such a good job that it did not even faze him.  He was eating again the minute he got home.  Cadbury is still timid around strangers and loud noises sometimes scare him, but there is little else that would suggest his origins as a wild cottontail.

If you've found a wild animal that needs help and rehabilitation, there is a local group called the "Wild Forever Foundation" that is made of veterinarians, rehabilitators and other professionals committed to returning the sick, injured and orphaned wildlife back to their natural habitats. You can visit their website at www.wildforever.org.