Viral Video Shows Woman Spending Days in the Cold Trying to Rescue an Abandoned Rabbit

The bunny now has a new home, along with millions of fans who watched his saga unfold. By Austin Cannon Updated December 13, 2021 Advertisement Pin FB More Tweet Email Send Text Message Print
woman feeding rabbit a carrot after taking for days to save him Credit: Courtesy of aliciacastro / TikTok

If you ever need to rescue a wayward rabbit outside your home, you'll need these four things: patience, perseverance, a crate, and more than a few vegetables. Just ask Alicia Castro, who spent several days outside her Montana apartment trying to capture an abandoned pet bunny.

Castro documented the journey through her TikTok account, beginning Nov. 5 when she described how her partner had found the black-and-white rabbit outside their home. She grabbed a carrot and sat down 10 yards away from the lost animal. It worked, and the rabbit came over to help himself to the snack. But despite nibbling on the carrot, it wouldn't be an easy capture, and Castro knew she couldn't try to whisk him away on the first try. 

She sat near him for hours, talking to the rabbit and giving him more carrots. 

"We're just building trust," she says to the camera.

RELATED: The Do's and Don'ts of Catching a Lost or Scared Dog

The next day brought a bit of a letdown. After sharing a carrot, Castro tried to trap the bunny under a laundry basket, but he was able to escape. The little fluff was not as eager to approach Castro, and she left feeling discouraged. It seems like the trap was a good idea though, because she returned the following day with a large crate filled with veggies.

After several hours, she shared a happy update with her TikTok following. Her new long-eared friend was in the "big-ass crate" that she'd ordered the night before—safe and secure behind the latched door. "We did it!" she told her bunny buddy.

Now safe and in from the cold, Castro called several animal rescue organizations about taking the bunny in, but none of them had any space. Through a little online research, she found out the rabbit had actually been abandoned once before she found him. And so even though she already has a cat—who she describes as a "bit of a princess"—Castro couldn't bear the thought of giving him away to someone who was not committed to his well-being. She shared an update a few days later, saying that they were taking the bunny-kitty introductions slow and safe, getting them used to each other in little bits of time.

In all, the four videos chronicling the rabbit rescue earned nearly 6 million views as of the time of this writing, so we're clearly not the only ones glad that he's in from the Montana cold. 

While they're still working on a name, Castro wrote on TikTok that so far, they've called him Bunny, Bun, Banana Boy, and Carrot Boy. I vote for Carrot Boy. Makes him sound like a superhero.