Down the Rabbit Hole

Spring 2026
Down the Rabbit Hole

Patty Reilly ’75 rehabilitates orphaned and injured bunnies and teaches others how to help wildlife.

t’s a sunny afternoon in early May and Patty Reilly ’75 is in her living room in Marshfield, Massachusetts, when her cell phone rings. It’s the town animal control officer.

“Hi, how are you doing?” Reilly says by way of casual greeting, already fairly certain of the reason for the call. Sure enough, the officer sounds urgent on the other end of the line. “Eyes open or eyes closed?” Reilly asks. “That sounds good,” she says after a beat, before hanging up.

“Four more bunnies are coming, and they’re healthy,” Reilly explains. “Their mother just got killed right next to the nest.”

The bunnies are a week old and will join the five already being cared for in Reilly’s nonprofit wildlife rescue, North River Wildlife Rehabilitation, Inc. Before the ACO arrives about 20 minutes later, Reilly will have a fresh cage and an intake form ready for her tiny new guests. A remodeled and insulated shed next to her house is fully equipped with cages, food, water bowls and other supplies, including a microscope Reilly uses to check rabbit droppings for diseases. The setup amounts to an impressive rehab center for wounded and orphaned cottontail rabbits.

She even stocks medicine, including antibiotics and pain medications, for injured rabbits that enter her care. “Amazingly, raw honey, especially Manuka honey native to New Zealand, is often used on wounds since it has both antibacterial and anti-inflammation properties,” Reilly notes. She also has her own experts at the ready. “For more serious injuries, I consult with my veterinarian of record for X-rays and decisions about possible outcomes.”

It took a lot for Reilly to get here. While living in Connecticut, she earned her state license after working at Wildlife Umbrella, a private wildlife station where she completed the required animal-care training. “I learned a lot about how to deal with a whole bunch of different animals, and started to take in squirrels and raccoons and rabbits. I did that for about 20 years.”

Then she moved to Massachusetts, where she studied at New England Wildlife Hospital, earned that state license, passed her inspection and had to pick a favorite. “At first, I was taking in squirrels and rabbits here out in the shed. The squirrels were a lot of fun, but they were so noisy that they drove the rabbits crazy,” Reilly recalls. “I really only had room for one type of animal, and I decided on bunnies. I’ve been rehabbing them here for about seven years.”

In 2025, Reilly was elected president of the 475-member nonprofit Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Massachusetts after serving as vice president of the organization for four years. “I originally joined the group years ago just to help out with the newsletter, and then realized I loved their whole goal,” she said of her initially unexpected rise through the ranks. WRAM educates its members and the public about how to help wild animals in need and works to advocate for their well-being. Members who are licensed in wildlife rehab take in a variety of creatures, including birds, turtles, possums, deer—just about any animal in need.

These are wild animals and should not be caged for life or trained to be domestic.

— Patty Reilly ’75

Licensed rehabilitators play an important role in mitigating the effects of people on wildlife, Reilly explains. “Humans cause a lot of trauma. Nature does not include car strikes, dogs digging out nests, poisonous chemicals on lawns, bait boxes and cat attacks. All these species have a special place in the food chain and ecosystem. Making sure that they can maintain their presence and balance in nature is really important.”

Part of educating the public involves driving home the fact that injured and orphaned wild animals must be handled with care and handed over to a professional as soon as possible. “They need help very quickly—not two days later—especially little animals,” Reilly says. Not to mention, their diets are very different than those of your cat, dog or hamster.

“It’s difficult to understand nutritional needs for wild animals,” Reilly explains. “The formulas are carefully balanced so that they are getting the right food. If that doesn’t happen, animals can get metabolic bone diseases that cause abnormal development. My rabbits are fed formula that comes from Australia and is specifically formulated for them.”

And if someone who isn’t trained tries to feed a baby animal, it can aspirate fluids into its lungs. “This happens all the time and the animals get pneumonia and die, so we always tell people to call a wildlife rehabber as soon as possible.”

In most states, it’s also illegal for the average citizen to care for or keep a wild animal as a pet. “We’re always so grateful that there are so many people who want to help, and they have really good intentions,” Reilly says. “But these animals are the property of the state and not the citizens.”

That adorable baby squirrel you found is no candidate for a pet anyway, Reilly warns. “These are wild animals and should not be caged for life or trained to be domestic. Many species start out as cute babies but as they get older, they become more aggressive and difficult, and once that happens it’s usually too late for the animal to return to the wild. It has imprinted on humans and cannot find food for itself.”

Patty Reilly ’75

The Bunny Whisperer

In many ways, Reilly is perfect for WRAM’s mission. After attending high school in New Haven during the civil unrest of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the science-minded student came to Connecticut College in 1971 and majored in zoology. “Conn really just was the other side of the universe from where I came from. It was quiet and beautiful and had great classes. I really loved it,” she said.

“We had one professor, Dr. John Kent, who taught six of us in ‘Cell Biology’ how to use an electron microscope. I can’t believe he allowed us to touch it. It was such a huge expense for the College, and he trusted us that we wouldn’t break it. I’ve always been a very visual person, so looking in an electron microscope was just incredible. Knowing how to use one helped me get jobs.”

After flipping her tassel on Tempel Green in May of 1975, Reilly began her career as a research scientist. She studied immunology at Yale and Harvard medical schools and at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, an R&D and manufacturing company that develops medicine for humans and animals.

I graduated in 1975 and everybody was busy being hippies and stuff.

— Patty Reilly ’75

While there, she established a science program for fourth and fifth graders, arranging first-hand science experience and classroom visits from real scientists. Before she retired in 2022, she worked as a research analyst, building databases to track cell and gene therapies for a company that tracks worldwide clinical trials and drug development.

The WRAM president was also no stranger to politics. While still in Connecticut, Reilly was elected chair of the Town Council of Watertown and ran for state representative of her district. And she’s been president of Conn’s Class of 1975 for almost 20 years, another role she says fell in her lap. “I graduated in 1975 and everybody was busy being hippies and stuff,” she said with a laugh. “Nobody really wanted the job. After our last president resigned, a few people contacted me and suggested I become the next one.”

Her varied leadership experience has given her a strong voice to advocate for animals, including working to ban certain types of animal repellent. “First- and second-generation rodenticides work,” she says. “They kill the rodents but the rodents die outside, and then other things eat the rodents and then they die. We have a really big problem in Massachusetts with raptors such as owls, foxes and coyotes suffering from rodenticide poisoning, and they die horrible deaths. They basically bleed to death because it’s a blood thinner. It is very important to release healthy animals back into the wild that are free of pesticides so that no poisons move up the food chain.”

WRAM has joined forces with several groups, including Mass Audubon, to urge the state legislature to ban these poisons. “So far it’s moving along, but the lobby for animal trappers and others who use those is pretty strong, and they have deep pockets.”

Release Day

When we met in early May, Reilly had already rehabbed and released 13 bunnies this season, and by the end of the day, she’d have nine more in her care. “The litters seem to come in waves,” Reilly remarked later. “The newest ones are all the same age, which is helpful because they can all live together. They are all doing well and are very frisky.”

Rabbits are most active at dawn and dusk, so baby bunnies eat once in the morning and once at night. In the wild, mothers only visit the nest briefly to feed before quickly leaving to avoid attracting the attention of predators. “Baby bunnies have no scent so that predators can’t detect them,” Reilly explains, “so nests cannot be moved because the mother would not be able to find them.”

To prevent the bunnies from getting too used to humans, Reilly, like a mother rabbit, only visits her bunny shed in the morning and evening, and keeps a quiet environment for the babies. “Rabbits are very fragile,” she cautions. “They can literally scare themselves to death—it’s called ‘capture myopathy’ and it causes all their organs to shut down. So I am very careful about keeping the bunnies calm and quiet. I am very happy when they run away from me and hide.”

The bunnies are ready to leave when they weigh at least 120 grams, are off formula and are eating greens completely on their own for at least three days. Reilly sends them back into the wild on land trusts and conservation land around the South Shore of Massachusetts, where she knows they’ll be away from people and pets, including her two large dogs. “I can usually tell when it’s time. They start to climb the sides of the cages, and they don’t want to be near me, which is good! I want them to hate me. I want them to be totally independent,” she insists.

“The best day is when I get to release them. But then I worry about them.”

They don’t want to be near me, which is good! I want them to hate me.

— Patty Reilly ’75

“The best day is when I get to release them. But then I worry about them.”

What to Do If You Find a Sick or Injured Non-Carnivorous Animal

(Do not attempt to rescue a carnivorous animal yourself—call a trained professional right away!)

1. Protect yourself. Wear a thick pair of gloves and a thick jacket to avoid being bitten, licked or scratched.

2. Prepare a container. Have a sturdy box with a lid, like a garbage can, recycling bin or thick plastic container, or animal carrier ready to contain the animal. Make sure the box has air holes in the lid.

3. Capture the animal. Place a thick towel over it, pick it up and place it immediately in the box with a secure lid. (If you are trying to capture a porcupine, do NOT use a towel. Use a board or other sturdy object to slowly herd the porcupine into the container.)

4. If you cannot transport the animal right away:

Keep the animal in a warm, dark and quiet place.
Do not give it food or water.
If the animal is cold, keep it warm by putting one end of the container on a towel over a heating pad set on low. If you don’t have a heating pad, you can use microwaveable heat bags or a bottle filled with hot water placed inside the box.
Do not handle the animal. Leave the animal alone.
Keep children and pets away.

5. Transport the animal to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. For further assistance on where and how to transport, call your town’s animal control officer or find a local wildlife rehabilitator on your state’s website. During transport, keep the car quiet with the radio off.

*Adapted from Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine