Baby bunnies found in huge bag of sand

Four tiny baby bunnies are being hand-reared after being found in a nest in a delivery of sand.

We were contacted by a group of builders in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, on Thursday morning (10 March) who made the discovery.

Inspector Beth Boyd went to collect the nest of kits. She said: "A team of builders were working on Scarborough seafront and had a delivery of sand in a large bag.

"When they opened it up they found the nest of four wild rabbit kits inside and called us for help.

"We don't know where the bags had come from or how long the babies had been without their mum so we rushed them to an experienced wildlife rehabilitator.

"She tells me that they're doing really well and are happily guzzling a specialist milk substitute so that's wonderful news."

We believe the rabbits, who still have their eyes shut, are around 12-14 days old.

When to help baby bunnies

A mother rabbit closes her kittens into a burrow, returning to nurse about once a day. Kittens will start to emerge from the burrow at about 18 days when they will look like miniature adults.

If they're found above ground with their eyes closed then something has dug them out of the burrow - in which case they'll be too young to survive. These rabbits will need rescuing and taking to a wildlife rehabilitator.

There's more information about orphaned baby wildlife online. If you find a baby wild animal and you're concerned please contact the our emergency hotline on 0300 1234 999.