Anyone know anything about wild rabbits?

Question

I was weeding in the garden yesterday and discoverd underneath one of our zucchini plants, buried under a layer of leaves, three dead baby bunnies, surrounded by rabbit fur. The babies were snuggled there together, no injuries, and very new--say only a day or two old. They hadn't been dead long, either, as there were no flies. They were cold, slightly stiff, there was no movement, so they were definitely dead. Questions: would a mother rabbit actually make a nest under a plant in a garden where there's alot of human activity, under a plant that isn't big enough to really hide anything? Would a rabbit make a nest and have babies in a layer of leaves? I thought they lived in tunnels underground. Would the mother move babies that had died from the actual nest and bury them somewhere else to keep predators away from any other living babies? I didn't think rabbits could carry their young. I'm just curious about this stuff. Thanks for info.

Answer 1

Maybe something happened to the mother and she couldn't return! That's curious though. I can't wait to see if someone has the answer. I would want to know also if I were you!

Answer 2

Other mammals have still born babies as well, perhaps that happened.  More than likely the mother either abandon them, which is rare in Nature or she has been captured or killed.

Yes, rabbits sharing our human urban areas will nest just about anywhere there is a patch of plants.  Urban wildlife behave very differently than their country or wild relatives.  They also have cats and dogs as predators.  Way too many wild animals are killed by dogs and cats.  There is a new science that has evolved describing the interactions of flora and fauna with humans called urban ecology.  

Rabbits don't live in tunnels, that's a myth, perhaps having something to do with Alice in Wonderland.  They will seek cover in one or perhaps spend winter in one.  

No, the mother is not going to move dead babies.  Maybe one if it was not responding to being feed.  Baby rabbits stay in the nest until they are weaned.  Once out, they never return.

Answer 3

for certain what has happened here is that the mother rabbit has left the babies to go and get some food or maybe she was scared away. She has then met with some serious circumstances which have caused her death.  Could have been a car or a cat or a bird of prey, there are many ways a rabbit can die. They were not old enough to eat normal food so they have died of starvation. Rabbits do not move their dead babies to fur-lined nests. Sad story

Answer 4

It doesnt know that it is a highly populated human area.  All the mother rabbit knows is that it is a good place to make a burrow...............Yay rabbits!

Answer 5

Rabbits make nests far away from the burrows to keep predators away.  She will only visit them for 5 minutes twice a day to nurse.

And yes rabbit will make a nest in the dumbest spot.  My dog dug up a nest 1 foot off the path in the park where everyone walks their dog.  It was under last years fallen tall grass.

Baby rabbits also die excessively easily.  They have to get the right bacteria from mom at the right time and no foreign bacteria or else they die.  They need the bacteria for proper digestion.  Luckily for rabbits they breed a lot.

http://www.2ndchance.info/bunnies.htm