Every spring a wildlife rescue is overrun with baby rabbits that they say should never have been touched in the first place. 

Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre (PWRC) is hoping that this year will be different. They say that well-intentioned humans are actually causing harm to baby rabbits, and took to social media this week to try and get ahead of this year's discoveries.

Rabbits dig their nests into the ground, and when discovered in a yard many people assume the babies, called kits, have been abandoned because the mother hasn't been seen. PWRC says, though, that it's not uncommon for mothers to only return to the nest a couple of times a day.

The rehabilitation centre said that humans should leave these nests alone most of the time. 

PWRC says that if it seems obvious that the kits are injured or sick then a wildlife rehabilitator should be contacted rather than handling them yourself.

To prevent disturbing nests, PWRC suggests checking yards before mowing and marking the nests with a light basket or flagging it off. They also say that you should not continue to check the nest as your scent can attract predators. 

"Take a moment to understand that your good intentions in picking up a rabbit could actually cause harm to you AND the animal," PWRC wrote in the post.