Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

So, everything happens all at once- I shouldn't be surprised, right? After washing MacKenzie's new Easter outfit, I pull it out of the washer and it has spots all over it! Must have been from the fabric softener- Grrr! I'm near the front entrance where the laundry area is, and in comes Mac with Giner and something in her hands. "MOM, MOM! The dog and cat were fighting over this poor baby bunny and it's bleeding from the nose!! You have to help!" So Ginger is right there trying to get the bunny from MacKenzie. So I have to take the dog out to the dog run; which is what she was doing when she went outside in the first place. She went out, and the dog saw the cat and went chasing after him. Then after the cat was ran off, Ginger spotted the rabbit. The rabbit got over to the pump house and tried to hide. MacKenzie spotted the baby bunny and went over and rescued it from the dog. Then the above stroy comes into play. So...luckily there was a batch of towel right by the laundry area. I grabbed this blue one and put the baby inside. MacKenzie has blood on her sweater. It looks like a spot to the left of the blue snowflake. Anyway, yep the bunny's nose is bleeding. So I don't know what to do! I grab a papertowel and get it wet with warm water and hold it on the nose to clean up some of the blood. Mac holds it there several seconds. Stops bleeding. Ok, now what? So the only thing I can think is we need to put it in a cage. I have no idea if this thing is hurt anywhere else. I run out to the shed and find the cat carrier used to go back and forth from the vet. Put it together. Get a few more towels. Find a dish for some fresh water and grab some spinach leaves out of the crisper.
We put baby in there. He goes right into the corner of the towel and carrier and snuggles down. Before we put him in, I look and it's not hurt anywhere else. Ok, now what? Just then DH returns from other farm. Tell him the story. Well, it's a cottontail. Mac, "can we keep it?" Wayne, "no, it's a wild animal." Me, "we need to make sure it's ok before we release it." Wayne says, "don't get too attached and don't hold it too much, you'll put human scent on it and then the mom won't want it back." Ok. So we have only checked 1 time on it. Doing fine. No more bloody nose. But I found out why it was bleeding. The little area at the bottom of the nose and where the mouth meet was ripped, so it was bleeding from there. Bunny was hopping around and full of P & V; did not want to be held. So I think it will be fine. The mom probably lives in the bushes right off our front yard. But the wind is blowing like 40 mph here. So not sure if that really is the optimal time to release baby. DH says he will decide, but thinks it is better if it is today. Anyway, baby needs to learn to hide better from the kitty! And kitty needs to run faster from the dog. And the dog needs to listen when her name is called and she is told no! What a life we lead out here on our farm!