Little Bunny Fufu...

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aquamoonbeam

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Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Hrmph. Who would buy a little baby bunny just to let him go in a park? Really people?!?!?

I was on my way to meet my old best friend who was on break from his school in Florida and came back to visit for a week :biggrin: We were meeting out by a lagoon in the middle of a park a couple hundred feet away from our old work, a waterpark where we both were lifeguards for a couple of year and we were heading there to swim for old times sake.

As I was driving through the park I see a deer by the edge of the road so I slow down and watch her eat, well as it turns out a few feet away from her around the corner sits a little black baby bunny. My heart fell in my chest.

He is not full grown, he is still probably half the size of a full grown rabbit, if that. And he is sooo adorable, he is pure black with a little white nose. How do you let that go in the woods of a park to fend for himself?

Today will be day 3 of trying to catch him, we have been close each day. The first day I brought bits of apple to lure him near and he chowed down on that right away, he even picked it up and ran around playing with it.

He isn't even scared when we try to catch him, he thinks it's all a game, he chins all the plants and flicks them and plays with them. He is so precious! But he does move really fast.

My boyfriend and I are going back to try again today and I hope third times the charm.

I'll write more about him later, wish us luck1
 
Fingers and paws crossed that you are able to catch the little bunny..


 
:pray: That's pretty much the same way we got Elizabeth. She was dumped out in a park next to a school. She weighed less than a pound and now tips the scales at 9 pounds. We figured she was maybe 7 or 8 weeks old. Good luck.
 
Thanks for all the encouragement. We drove to the park yesterday and there little Fufu was sitting in his clearing as usual, but when we approached he took off this time. The clearing is right across from a playground so I am assuming some well meaning people and children are trying to come close to him and making him more skittish. I broke apart a banana and left pieces for him out and then my boyfriend and I went for a walk around the lagoon where we found lots of fish that people caught and left out to die, so we put them back in the water and ran water through their gills till they could swim off again. We also saw a teeny baby snapping turtle the size of a quarter!

Then we went back to check and sure enough the little rapscallion Fufu is sitting there eating his banana. He let us get closer then had enough and literally binkied away. The little brat. He is such a little lover, he just wants to play. The woods are too dense and we can't get through them so we just sat and talked to him and put out more banana pieces. we are going back today. Hopefully we can lure him into a basket or can get close enough to put a large tub over him :/ The first two days we ALMOST had him but the tub would land on a plant and leave just enough space for the stinker to crawl under.

This is so frustrating. And somehow he has a big pink scrape on his cute little nose, right next to his white patch. :( It doesn't look bad at all but I still don't want to see the baby hurt.

The day before yesterday when we went, low and behold there were two rabbits! lol. A big wild rabbit was sitting with him just eating grass. When we went up to them she took off and Fufu just sat there eating. He isn't really frightened off us which is a plus but he is so darn fast when he wants to be. grrr.

Day Fours the charm?
 
Another day another failure.

Let's just say he really really enjoys having lots of space to run and lots of green stuff to eat and play with.

:grumpy:

Super disappointed.

Every day it is getting harder to get near him because he is learning that being in the dark woods isn't as scary as he thought.

I don't want the parents and the kids at the playground to see the little domesticated rabbit and think "Oh look, he can survive out there, it must be ok to let ours go to when we grow tired of him." grrr.

I love my boyfriend so much, I can't think of any other guy who would crawl in a dense forest to herd a bunny back my way while being eaten alive by mosquitos and scratched and cut up by thorns and plants.

We got a system down where he would be caught between the two of us and twice today I could have caught him with our tub had my reactions been faster. I'm so upset at myself.

Luckily he doesn't seem to hate us. Once again while trying to catch him he thinks it is a game and jumps and drags twigs around and flops over and binkies. The little brat is taunting us. lol. At least he has a sense of humor about the situation.

I'm scared we are never going to catch him though and it is really discouraging.
 
We don't have a net, but a blanket could possibly work. I guess we will have to try and see. the only problem is the plants on the ground, we;ve had him the big plastic tub we have been using twice but it lands on the ground so that he can get out so that is what i am worried about with the blanket. I guess we will have to try it because it would have more surface area and maybe once its over him he will flop or something. I'm up to trying anything right now.

Thanks so much for the suggestions!
 
You could contact the member TreasuredFriend. She rescued several domestic bunnies that were living on the streets in the area. I'll PM her this thread and she may be able to loan you a humane trap or have other help.

Best of luck catching the little guy!
 
Thanks Claire for sending the alert.

Aquamoonbeam: Can you encourage a few more dedicated bun rescuers to help you? Maybe a threesome or foursome of humans?

What worked best for my husband to capture 3 abandoned rabbits in semi-resident/semi-industrial area of Milwaukee was "familiarity" and "food need."
(Quaker) Old Fashioned oat flakes and a couple aromatic raisins, apple bits if fresh, sunflower kernels...
Trust is a biggie and rabbits seek out an escape route, especially if that cutie dutch-mix? is worried for his life.

* Offer something he'll get "hooked" on. ;) Something /she can't find in the woods to nibble, like oat flakes and apple or raisins.

I'd let you borrow our bunny-capture net if I could meet you somewhere?

Look for a fishing net at a store, if you can find one. Large, lightweight. Carry it with you each time you visit and see him. Lay it on the ground so he/she gets used to seeing its shape. My hubby would feed the street rabbits at 5-6 am in the morning, shaking the oatmeal container so they associated "that sound" with his safe human form.
Something to try when you go to see if s/he's still there.

If you can get Fufu to eat out of your hand, gradually, all the better. With items he won't find in the parkway/woods. Start using his/her name and shaking that oats container.

Blanket is a good too, as long as several people can surround the edges. Gather a bunch more people to help if possible. (easier than it sounds) With the dedication of you and your boyfriend, he's fortunate you care.

Big clear plastic tub will work if you can see through it and have extra hands for lifting it up when you want to Hand grab 'im. Depending on instinct to flee.

Not knowing for what purpose he's going to be "caught" -- is enough to frighten a rabbit to evade all capture.

Lots more persons who capture abandoned rabbits have tips to add also.



With that scratch on his white nose, I hope flies don't land in for cuterebra/fly strike later on. He'll be thankful you captured him, and get him checked over for parasite uglies.


 
:: I love my boyfriend so much, I can't think of any other guy who would crawl in a dense forest to herd a bunny back my way while being eaten alive by mosquitos and scratched and cut up by thorns and plants.

We got a system down where he would be caught between the two of us and twice today I could have caught him with our tub had my reactions been faster. I'm so upset at myself.

Luckily he doesn't seem to hate us. - AQMB :: :hug::hearts

I hope he'll eat out of your hand and you can bring a net or several large towels or blanket. Tempt him with those good treats and food.

Small miracles are possible! Keep trying, Let me know if you need a net... I'm at an aromatherapy class tomorrow a.m. Could meet you someplace around Pet Supplies Plus store, Bluemound Road, Waukesha, etc. ...

------------
 
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=58527&forum_id=1

Someone dumped 2 domestic rabbits off on my five acres -- started by 4pitysake, Thurs. June 10, 2010

^ Helpful info here ^

The thing with traps in a public area, don't know if a fox or hunting dog or raccoon, coyote, or skunk, rabbit-eating predator, will come by when you're not there to give the innocent outcast a heart-attack in the trap.

Definitely extra hands is good to grab him when he's close to your knees. Get down on your knees if he'll eat out of your hand with the oatmeal and raisins. Familiarity and food need... Hubby and I managed okay though with just the two of us catching one.

Bring a bunch of bananas and start eating them when he's watching you! Lay a morsel on the grounds along with tasty nibbles. Yay, he likes 'nanas.



Yah, all the time, humans are abandoning rabbits. makes you sick.

Hope this baby will be caught by caring you and BF.
 
So today was a good morning! I woke up this morning and read all your posts and they really encouraged me to go and try to talk to Fufu one on one. I rode my bike to the park and there was no sign of Fufu. There was a big van with a guy in it parked right by where Fufu usually was so I'm assuming he saw him and stopped to get a better look and accidentally scaring him away.

Wellllllll I put out some bits of apple and some oatmeal and got out my towel and laid down to write in my journal in the shade of the trees right by the place where Fufu usually shows up, after 30 minutes I got bored and decided to snoop and see if I could see Fufu anywhere and sure enough he was laying in a patch of sunlight like 6 feet inside the woods. Silly bun bun. Well he flopped over when he saw me, then started playing with the plants, then hopped away. Brat.

So I put out the rest of the yummy goodies I brought for the little man (some Romaine leaves, apple, baby carrots, oatmeal, little cookies) and went back to writing in my journal. I looked up and noticed something that looked like rabbit ears so I walked over to the edge of the weeds and stuff and it turns out the ears looking stuff wasn't him, but guess who was lounging just a foot away? Sassy bun.

I go back to writing and about 45 minutes later way to my right I see a little bunny sitting at the edge of the woods. I say hi to him and out he comes prancing into the open. The little brat was sneaking up on me, it made me laugh so much. From that point on he realized I wasn't going to chase him so he ran all over happily real close to me. I moved closer to the pile of food and so did he, finally he settle down to eat. He loves the Romaine and his second favorite are the carrots. i got within two feet of him and every time I moved to get my blanket he would run away, then I'd call to him and he'd run out at me again. He is too cute. He really does like being by people.

It turns out that the cut on his nose isn't so much a cute as a tiny bit of fur missing. It doesn't look infected and I think it looked like a cut before because the white fur is in a jagged pattern.

On the downside I thought he had poopy butt. From what I can see he doesn't but he does have a big burr stuff to his butt on the left side of his tail.

I got some pictures and video though. :biggrin:
 

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