Octomom

As the 4-H rabbit leader I receive calls from lots of folks regarding rabbits. Yesterday a call came from a family that had found a couple of rabbits that were sitting at the edge of one of the busiest roads on the island. They went right up to the rabbits and were able to pick them up and bring them home. We were summoned to assess them and when we arrived we found a couple of very sweet cross-breed rabbits that were totally calm. It seemed that the doe was the mother of the younger buck. He would nuzzle up to her and she seemed protective of him. They seemed in good health. This morning I received a call from the family about the doe going crazy overnight and breathing heavily. I suggested putting a nest box in the cage along with newspaper and hay. The family was gone through most of the day and came home to the doe and eight kits. She had plucked her fur to make a nest in the newspaper, which is amazing that she hadn't plucked herself days sooner before kindling her kits. We went over to check out the kits and all were healthy and the mother was in good shape too. Kits are born fur-less and with their eyes shut. There were black ones and white ones with all sorts of markings similar to English Spot rabbits. They will be oh so cute as they get their fur. More later.