This was our little cottontail bunny Tumbles the night we found him. His mother had just kicked him out of the nest, presumably because she had too many mouths to feed and he was just too weak. We discovered him on the street squirming and writhing on his back. We initially thought that we were just taking him in to give him a warm and comfortable place to pass away, as he was in such distress. But, from the moment I picked him up and held him to my heart, he showed a fierce desire to survive.

He made it through the first few nights just fine, but we began to notice that he could not move his neck, and he could not stand up or balance himself at all. Turns out he had Torticollis, or ‘Head Tilt’, likely caused by trauma. This was pretty scary, because he never blinked his one eye, and we worried it might get damaged as well.

This is what ‘head tilt looks like in a bun:

So we were initially worried, but as the days went on, our little guy kept getting better, even though he would only be able to hop a step or two before falling down—-hence the name ‘Tumbles’! But we figured if he’s happy, that’s all that matters.I began massaging Tumbles’ little neck every morning, just to try to alleviate any pain he might have, and he seemed to love it. As the next week went by, he started running around the room like mad, playing with the dog, and having a great time. But the funny thing was, when he tried to run in a straight line, he would always make a circle. Poor little guy.But then the miracle began to happen. After every morning massage over the next few weeks, his head seemed to get a little straighter. Until, finally one day, our bun was normal! Extremely tiny, but normal. He is now almost 8 months old and doing great. Here’s the boy in repose:

What a great bun! And they said he couldn’t survive in captivity… Ha!

Hey, you bitee my buttz! Although he does have a penchant for poor Emmylou’s bottom!