FWIW, when we prepared to raise rabbits while buried in the woods of Northern Arizona, for food, mind you, my wife had spent considerable time consulting Rodale regarding animal-raising on a limited budget, for self-sufficiency purposes. I remember the cautions about staying clear of the young rabbits, otherwise the mama will abandon them. Our mama gave birth to a bunch, eight if I recall correctly. as they reached butchering weight, I felt they were still far too small; the book delineated all this based on "most for the least" principles. I tired quickly of killing and skinning rabbits. The animals have always seemed so defenseless to me. we have quite a few cottontails living around our place now. They all seem tiny, perhaps half-grown, and we've never seen a large one; thus, I suspect their predators here are many. There are cats, now and then, big predatory birds, possibly even the roadrunners. These bunnies delight in eating birdseed strewn on the ground, preferring it over the greens we trim off cauliflower, etc. Frank