The Picket Project (Post 4)

It's the 10th of May and Picket has now been in our lives for a month and what an impact she has made on our lives in that month.  It amazes me that we have been granted the opportunity to help care for this creature and each day she is here with us is a blessing to us all.

Picket is still drinking goats milk and growing like a weed on it.  We no longer bother with a pippette and have resorted to allowing her to just drink out of a measuring cup.  She drinks roughly 1/2 a cup of goats milk three times a day.  However, once we finished her initial dosings of Bene-Bac, we did begin her on solid foods and offering fresh water.  She has been given a good amount of both Timothy and Orchard hay, along with Alfalfa treats but she really seems to like fresh broccoli and bananas more than anything.  She's also nibbled on apples but she doesn't seem that thrilled with them.  She does enjoy dried sweet potatoes quite a bit as well.

Also, our cat carrier was getting a bit too small for her, especially if we wanted her to be able to stretch her legs out, so we did spend a bit of money and bought a hutch for her to reside in.  This was well worth the money, even if it's temporary, as she seems much happier.

However, she would much rather be allowed to just sit in our windowsill at night.  

Or, if she's not int the windowsill, she's enjoying spending time with us snuggling on our bed..  We've learned to move our bedding off the bed and lay cheap plastic shower curtain liner with a small blanket on the bed so that she can be given free rein without worrying about bunny "accidents".. Both can be tossed into the washer machine as needed.

But without a doubt, her favorite spot is still right on my chest..  

Or curled up on our laps so she can take a snooze.

We have been told by many people who have had experience with hares that they are very standoffish and do not like to be cuddled or petted except on rare occasions.  As of now, she still enjoys being handled and will jump up on our laps or into our arms for attention.  If you ignore her, she will sit up on her hind legs and scratch at you with her front paws to get your attention. 

She loves to be held, so long as you make sure her rump is supported.. 

While she's always had big ears, they have grown significantly over the last few weeks.  The thicker fur that was initially on the back of them thinned out and eventually fell out, and her curled ears unfurled leaving behind a very fine fur over very leathery, heavily veined satellite dishes.  She LOVES to have her ears rubbed and will often fall asleep on your lap if you gently rub her ears down her back.

We understand that she's only ours for a short time.  But let me tell you, being this close to a wild animal is a pretty neat experience.