Introducing Leftie, my new "grand-rabbit," and boy is his story interesting. Leftie is about two week old now, and his name is Leftie because his left eye hasn't opened yet. That's probably because when the snake had him in his mouth he injured his eye...
Leftie had just been born when my daughter Meredith heard the screaming of the little fella from the tree. Rabbits do not make sounds, that I am aware of, except when they are in dire straights, and then it is a high pitched tiny scream. Well Meredith thought her cat was being trying to contribute to the household again by bringing various protein products to the porch as offerings to be cooked up by her. He has brought mice, rats, etc., and left them as presents for her. She really isn't ever impressed by these gifts, and she recognized the sound she was hearing, and felt it was probably a cottontail, and she ran to rescue whatever is in such distress from the cat.
Cottontails are small rabbits, even when grown, and when she realized the distress was coming from a tree she looked up just as the baby bunny fell from the tree. A brown snake had the rabbit in its mouth, and she caught a glimpse of the snake before the rabbit fell on her. She caught the tiny animal and knew he was just freshly born because the umbilical cord was still attached.
Meredith has always been such a gentle person, and very loving. Her name means "gift from the water." She had a near drowning incident at age 14, and that name given at birth gained such special meaning. Always having been "gifted" with animals, Merrie, as we call her, rounded up what she would need to "save" the newborn.
Goat milk is the favored nutrition source for a baby rabbit when no mother rabbit is available, and she purchased a doll bottle as well. Right away she figured out Leftie didn't even have a large enough mouth for this bottle, and she had to squeeze a drop on her finger and allow the tiny little baby to suck it off. I thought when she first told me about the rabbit that it probably wouldn't make it. When she sent me the photo above after a couple of weeks, I was delighted she had worked her magic again. Another good sign is today when she had him out in the grass, he began nibbling at some. She has had several successes over the years. I think Leftie has made it long enough that he is going to survive, ... as long as he stays away from snakes. I always make it a point to stay away from snakes myself.
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