Raising a wild animal in captivity without the proper training is never recommended. Donate or volunteer Stay Updated Keep up to date by joining our mailing list:. Is the rabbit injured? Eastern Cotton Tail A baby rabbit has the best chance of survival when it is cared for by its mother.
A baby rabbit needs to be rescued for the following reasons: It is bleeding, has an open wound, or has a broken bone. It is covered in fly eggs these look like small grains of rice. It is cold, wet, or crying nonstop. Found a juvenile rabbit? Juvenile Eastern Cottontail Is the rabbit fully furred? Are its eyes open? Is it larger than a baseball?
Found an infant rabbit? In order to reunite an infant rabbit with its mother, the baby must be warm. As with many things in nature, many variables affect a cottontail rabbit's reproduction and life cycle, which makes it impossible to determine exactly how many rabbits one mating pair can become responsible for in their lifetime and beyond.
But when you consider that one female can birth three or four litters averaging five babies each, you can see that number gets big quickly when you take into account their offspring's offspring.
For that reason, an area's eastern cottontail rabbit population is nearly always on the verge of exploding, Pennsylvania State University reports. At any given time, the vast majority of the cottontail population is younger than 1 year old.
If those rabbits live long enough to produce their own litters of offspring, the populations can quickly become very large very fast. The populations are kept in check by the rabbits' relatively short lifespan, which is typically less than three years. Stay up-to-date on the happenings in Will County's forest preserves by subscribing to The Citizen , our weekly digital newsletter that provides subscribers with updates on Forest Preserve news, upcoming events, and other fun and useful information for the whole family.
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Read More. The Citizen The Weekly Five. The Buzz. What Does That Mean Anyway? This uses a lot of energy, and can create injuries. Between July and October, the rabbits stop breeding so they have time to recover.
They store excess energy as fat for insulation. This makes them more prepared for the harsh winter months and a second chance of breeding. With this preparation, some rabbits have a litter in winter, although this is generally quite early for the rabbits born that spring.
If they do have babies in winter, the less rich food sources means that litters are smaller. Only three or four survive to a few weeks old, and most of these will be taken by predators.
However, since adult rabbits breed again almost as soon as a new litter is born, the population grows steadily. This natural rhythm means that if you are breeding rabbits, you may notice that they are more willing to breed between October and December than in earlier months. Baby rabbits are called kittens or kits and they come in litters of seven on average.
To prepare for a litter of rabbit kittens, a hutch with shelter on all sides must be provided. Adding several adult rabbits to a single hutch can be an effective way to keep them warm during winter. However, as it is breeding season, two rabbits of the same sex cannot be kept together, as they may fight.
When the baby kittens are born, however, extra supplies must be given. Your rabbits will need a lot of support in order to keep as many kits baby rabbits alive to adulthood as possible.
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