Meet Jewel, abandoned the day after Easter with her two newborn babies. Someone probably purchased Jewel not knowing she was pregnant or purchased two rabbits and thought they were the same sex. Not a nice surprise for the owners and not a nice surprise for Jewel to find herself and babies without a home through no fault of her own.

This is the same old story for us at Michigan Rabbit Rescue. We try to educate the public but no matter how hard we try; people keep purchasing rabbits without knowing their facts. Rabbits are very social animals and have emotions, which they express all the time. Being abandoned is a very traumatic experience for any animal and for a new mother it can mean death for her newborns.

Jewel was quite upset after being abandoned and there was concern that she would stop caring for her babies. Fortunately, Michigan Rabbit Rescue was able to take Jewel in and give her a safe, quiet environment to get back into the routine of motherhood.

Jewel's babies were placed in a nesting box with a piece of faux wool and strips of cotton material over them to keep their hairless bodies warm. Jewel's motherly instinct was still present and she plucked fur from her body to add to the nest. Over a few days, enough fur was added to the nest that the scraps of material could be removed.

Many people don't realize that a mother rabbit only feeds her babies once or twice in a 24 hour period and does not stay on the nest to keep the babies warm. A disruption of the feeding routine can be deadly as can destroying the warm nest the mother creates with her fur.

Jewel has settled in nicely to her foster home and is taking good care of her babies. We will continue to post pictures and the latest stories on Jewel and her babies. We are hoping for a very happy life for all three of them but there are many hurdles still to cross.

Please consider helping Jewel, her babies and the other Michigan Rabbit Rescue fosters by giving a donation to help cover their veterinary care.