You looking at me?? The babies were transferred to a bigger climbing cage a few days ago. They were intimidated by it at first, but it is amazing how fast they have caught onto the whole climbing thing! They are also starting to get better about eating solid food. They especially like fruit- grapes, bananas, berried, oranges- banana chips and granola bars! It is really amazing watching how they are developing, and they are getting more and more confident about their world. We go outside everyday and they love hiding in my jacket, looking outside, jumping back in my jacket and running around in excitement, looking outside again, etc...etc...!
They are also finally getting to know what wood is. I put some sticks in their cage and they were very curious about these new things- see below. It is important to introduce them to all of these things so that they are ready for release in a little more than a month.
And little sister got upset with me today when I was checking on them (I had put their cage outside), which is a really good sign that their wild instincts are there and that they will be ready to go. You can't take these things personally after all!
In other good news, the head-tilt rabbit is now back in the wild! He was getting more and more skiddish and hard-to-handle, which is all good natural bunny behavior, and his head-tilt was getting less pronounced. Today I weighed him, discovered he had gained over 300g since he has been at WTS, about 30% of what he weighed when he arrived! I then let him have a hop and discovered that he was getting around really well. So I sent him on his way. Sometimes you release wild animals before they are 100% better, as the stress of keeping them in the cage to get the last 10% of healing is actually more detrimental to their well being. I am confident that he will do just great!
And another little tiny rabbit arrived at WTS today.She is about 4 weeks old, old enough to be on her own, but she was caught and hurt by a cat. See WTS webpage on "Cats & Wildlife". It's amazing that she survived and even more amazing that the vets were able to sew up her wounds. Bunny skin is so delicate that often the skin will not support stitches.
She was losing weight in the hospital, so has come to WTS to recover. She is still on various medications and needs fluid therapy to keep her hydrated, but fingers crossed she will be good to go in a few weeks! Stay tuned for pictures!
