Never a dull moment out here. Friday evening I was planning to have a quiet, relaxing evening as Kent was gone with the band that night. Before I sat down I wanted to burn off the weeds that had grown in our fire pit so I could dig the ashes out of there. I had a large cardboard box that I set on top of the weeds and lit it on fire. Everything was burning nicely when I heard screams coming from the fire pit and saw a baby bunny’s head coming up through some of the charred area. I had to get him/her out of there so reached in and pulled him to safety but still heard crying. I ended up pulling 3 more baby rabbits out of the ash and fire. I felt terrible that I had destroyed their nest but had no idea they were in there. Fortunately their mother had dug fairly deeply or they certainly would have died. They had a couple of singed patches of fur but seemed okay otherwise but what to do with them. Beauty and Gadget the barn cats were already alerted by the crying and stalking around the area where I had laid the bunnies down. I knew they were too little to just let loose outside and I knew not to handle them too much.

I gathered them up and took them in the house, put them in a box with a heating pad and hit the internet to look for help. I knew they needed someone with experience to take care of them. Fortunately I found a link to an emergency vet clinic that said they helped with wildlife rehab. They in turn gave me the number of the Four Lakes Wildlife Rehab Center which was open until 9 p.m. I rushed the baby bunnies in to town and got them to the center before it closed. They applied ointment to their burns but felt the bunnies would be okay. Their eyes were open and they were jumping around when touched. Hopefully the little guys will do fine and end up released back into the wild. Next time I burn anything I’m going to do a thorough check for nests under the weeds or brush!