Summerhill's Veterinary Nurses care for baby rabbits from Celtic Manor Ryder Cup Course
Last Easter, the nursing staff at Summerhill Vets had their hands full caring for the tiniest patients they had seen for a long time!
Groundsmen at the Celtic Manor Golf Course, home of the Ryder Cup 2010, uncovered a nest of tiny baby rabbits whilst preparing the Golf Course.
Photo courtesy of Gaz Hammond
Straight away they called Summerhill Vets to find out what was the best thing to do with the tiny babies which were less than a week old.
It was felt that the mother rabbit was unlikely to return and it would be too difficult to replace the nest and keep the babies safe in case she did.
The babies were carefully collected up and brought into Summerhill Veterinary Centre.
The nursing staff were kept busy feeding tiny drops of milk to the babies - all eight of them! They had to be fed regularly to keep up their strength so that they could quickly grow and start eating grass and rabbit food. Wild animals are not handled too much at the veterinary centre as the nurses always hope to eventually turn them back out into the countryside where they belong.
Every care was taken to ensure that they did not become too tame - so somewhere out there are Fudge, Bournville, Cadbury........
Yes being Easter bunnies they were all named after the veterinary nurses favourite... chocolate!
