Rate of 'kidnapped' baby hares a concern in Saskatoon

A wildlife rehabilitation specialist in Saskatoon is concerned by the number of baby hares that are being turned in to her facility this spring.

Jan Shadick with Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation said there were between 25 to 30 baby hares taken to her facility all of last year and they have already received 22 this spring.

The city is populated by snowshoe hares and white-tailed jackrabbits.

Shadick said jackrabbits have a tendency to leave their babies alone for most of the day. She said the mother will only check on them twice a day, at dawn and dusk, to feed them.

Because the baby hares cannot run fast enough to escape predators, they rely on having no scent and remaining very still, even when left out in the open.

Everything eats bunnies and so they have a tendency to have a very high stress level.- Jan Shadick

Shadick said the public is not always aware of this natural defence mechanism when they come across the young animals in parks or other settings.

"Well-meaning, compassionate people are finding these incredibly cute and adorable and really vulnerable-looking little bunnies all by themselves and they are assuming that these baby bunnies have been abandoned or orphaned," she said.

Shadick said even baby hares that have been attacked by crows or magpies still have a 50 per cent chance of surviving if they are moved to a protected place nearby and left alone.

If they are "kidnapped" and brought to a facility, she said the survival rate is much lower because it is difficult to provide them with some of their nutritional needs.

She noted any baby hares turned in to Living Sky are transferred to a local person who specializes in taking care of them. She said he has an "amazing" track record of rehabilitating them by providing a less stressful environment and the right bacteria for their nutritional needs.

"He has figured out a way to provide them with a bit of an environment where he has put in an adult bunny and let it be in that environment for awhile, so that there's lots of healthy bacteria within that environment," she said.

She estimated between 33 to 50 per cent of the baby hares turned in to Living Sky last year survived, but she said other facilities usually report survival rates of five per cent or less.

"Everything eats bunnies and so they have a tendency to have a very high stress level," she said. "And so when they're handled and brought into a rehabilitation facility, they often times get extremely stressed out -- which results in some problems for them. And then they end up not making it."

Shadick said the time to bring baby hares in to her facility is when you see a group of them and at least one of them is dead or appears to be injured.

Otherwise, the best move is to leave them alone.

If they must be moved, her facility advises moving them with a handful of leaves or grass to prevent your scent from rubbing off on them and making them more vulnerable to predators. It's best to move them only a few feet to make sure their mother finds them.