A baby pigeon and rabbit in Ireland have found friendship together. These orphan animals are currently living at the Kildare Animal Foundation Wildlife Unit. When they were brought there, they were brought separately and had never interacted before. The rabbit was brought first with his umbilical cord still connected to him. He was in an unstable condition and even suffered a seizure that makes him walk unsteadily. Fortunately, the rabbit survived all of these health issues.
A little story of comfort and love…These two tiny orphans arrived into our care separately. So, a little bit about them! The tiny bunny has been with one of our foster carers since he was admitted after being orphaned two weeks ago. He was so tiny that he still had the remains of umbilical cord attached. He was very weak and we honestly didn't expect him to make it. But he did. He progressed slowly but surely. Then last week, very unexpectedly, he had a prolonged seizure which left him weakened with an unsteady gait. Again, we thought he wouldn't make it. But again, he battled on and slowly began to improve. Then, on Friday, we received a call from a lady who had found a pigeon's nest on the ground. In it was a newly hatched chick and an unhatched egg. Sadly, the egg was cold and no longer viable, but the little chick appeared to be unharmed from the fall. Both baby bunny and the chick needed the warmth and comfort of an incubator but our foster carer only had one incubator so she placed a divide in the middle of it with one baby on either side. Both babies fed and settled down down well. Imagine our foster carer's surprise when she next checked them and discovered that the divide had been overcome and these two had decided that life together was better than life apart. Ever since, they have curled straight up together after every feed. Neither is out of the woods yet, tiny lives are so delicate at this stage, but they are thriving for now. The comfort of two heartbeats together, of companionship, has crossed the species divide. They are simply two little babies, finding comfort and warmth in each other's company. Aren't they just beautiful? :) xxx
Posted by Kildare Animal Foundation Wildlife Unit on Sunday, August 14, 2016
About a week after the rabbit was brought in, the foundation received an urgent call from a woman who was reported to have seen a pigeon’s nest lying on the ground. The nest contained an unhatched egg and a hatched egg with a small chick inside. The rescuers from the foundation rescued the baby chick and placed him in an incubator with the rabbit because there was only one incubator available. A divide had been placed between the two baby animals but one broke through and settled next to the other one. Now the two seem more confident and happy together than they ever were apart.
Do you recall the little bunny and tiny pigeon squab who found such comfort in one another's company last week? Well, the unlikely friendship continues. Both are thriving. Long road ahead but step by step we're getting there :). If you would like to make a donation towards the care of these babies and all our myriad other patients you can do so via PayPal at KAFWildlife@gmail.com. Every cent goes towards the care of our casualties and every donation, no matter how small, helps us to save lives. Thank you so much for your support.xxx
Posted by Kildare Animal Foundation Wildlife Unit on Thursday, August 18, 2016
The story of Bunny and Pidg continues… :) Bunny's progress continues apace thankfully. Our little munchkin is just about fully weaned now, only taking tiny amounts of formula before dashing off to nibble on delicious hay and baby bunny food. Today he discovered that he can bounce about three inches off the ground using all four legs like little springs. This sometimes results in a rather haphazard landing but, undeterred, each new attempt brings a little more surety and balance. He scoots around by pidg, who appears rather taken aback by all the flurry of activity, stops for a gentle twittering, then takes off again. Ten minutes of this and exhaustion kicks in. Time for the two little love bugs to curl up together again until next feeding time come round :) xxx
Posted by Kildare Animal Foundation Wildlife Unit on Sunday, August 28, 2016
