Loose rabbit in friend's yard

[Thumperina]

A week ago a friend sent me a text and a picture of a domesticated rabbit she spotted in her yard. I gave her some suggestions of what to offer and so on. The next morning I texted her for update and she replied the rabbit was gone and she hasnt seen her since.
Then a week after, yesterday, she said she was seeing the rabbit again, I again repeated all my suggestions and that I am ready to come over to help catch the bun if she needs help. I have been suggesting to come over since the day one. I have been saying i am ready to help her.
The problem is that she is not replying as if she wanted any help . I guess she thinks that it is disturbance to her life... in other words I don't think she takes it seriously that Its hot out and that the rabbit has been out way too long. She is not a close friend to me. My suspicion is that she wants to protect her privacy and is not comfortable that I am offering help again and again when she doesn't want to deal with the rabbit.
She is in a real upscale neighborhood, I think somebody could even dump this bunny there. Of course I told her to ask all the people that live around if it's their rabbit. no idea if she did. She doesn't work but has 3 children ages 10-15 that are about to be back to school (explains that she may be busy)
I am concerned about well being of this rabbit. I told her I can't offer taking the rabbit in (because all my rabbits died and infectious cause is quite possible so it may not be safe at my place) but we would find where to take her.
What would you do?

 

[SydneyHasBunnies]

I would leave some water and food out for a while and maybe look into safe traps and put some treats in there. If you ever catch it, don’t scare it and make very slow moves and talk very quietly and softly and take it to a vet to check for injuries or infection.

 

[Thumperina]

the problem is that the friend doesn't want to me in her yard and she is not putting enough effort in catching the rabbit

 

[Thumperina]

very good points. by the way who is going to pay for the doctor check up? blood work alone where I live is usually almost $150

 

[Blue eyes]

Are there any rabbit rescues around? I know the rabbit rescues here will attempt to catch any strays that are reported to them. That could be a way around your dilemma. Just give them the address where the rabbit has been sighted. They can try to capture it, get it checked by a vet, and put it up for adoption.

 

[Thumperina]

yes there is a rescue and I gave the number to the friend and she even called them. But nobody can force a person to grant access to her private yard to anyone if that person doesn't want to. I guess the problem is that my friend understands that it will take probably hours to wait for the rabbit (with no guarantee!) and she has to have these people in her yard while she might be having other plans for the eve

as I mentioned, she is in the rich area... this can be a problem too

 

[Blue eyes]

Yes. I understand about the yard situation. But I was thinking that the rescues that try to capture a stray will peruse the neighboring properties and common ground areas looking for the rabbit. They don't necessarily have to be on that specific person's property but may well find the rabbit somewhere nearby. And other neighbors may be ok with the volunteers crossing their property to get the rabbit if necessary.

 

[Preitler]

Just my 2 cents:

That rabbit isn't really your responsibility. It's not yours, and it's not on your property. You did the right thing by giving advice, but apart from that there isn't much I could imagine a good idea doing.

I understand that you want to help the rabbit, but imho it is quite likely pretty happy and fine, leaving food and water doens't hurt unless there's a feral rabbit problem there. If it gets infected, well, bad luck, life's a bitch.

If your goal is to get this rabbit for yourself, and you wouldn't mind to annoy some people who you'll never see again anyway, then I'd say it's worth a try if your friend and her kids help you. I can tell you that isn't easy to catch a rabbit that got used to roam free.

I had permanent escapees in the past, 2 sisters that I couldn'd catch for weeks - and then I thought it would be cruel to put them back into hutches and stopped trying. They got a wild buck, had offspring, and I met them now and then for 3 years (I moved away then), they even became pretty tame mascots of the neighbouring demolition debris recycling plant where they lived. I'm pretty sure they enjoyed living a real rabbit life.

 

[Thumperina]

No, I don't want this rabbit for myself. I just think that she can be having hard time in the wild if, for example, she was an indoor rabbit. Survived for at least a week - that's good. Not just getting infected can pose a danger - people can be using pesticides for their lawns, to name just one more. Cats, predators...and its HOT during the day. Just the other day it was 98F. My own rabbits in the past, when they were younger and healthier, were OK being outside during this sort of temps , but they need to stay hydrated. and what sort of hydration is this rabbit having?
Not your responsibility - that's approach that a lot of people have (including my friend I guess). Not me.
the problem is that I don't want to annoy her.

 

[Watermelons]

Just leave it be. Youve done what you can to offer help. Hundreds of thousands of domesticated rabbits are dumped in the wild. If it survives then thats a smart bunny, if not, well it just wasn't meant to be. You can't save them all. Sounds like this rabbit is doing just fine.