Does my rabbit know I was working with raw meat?

[kaitland]

Hi! I just got my bunny Alto a few weeks ago I absolutely love him! I am a first-time bunny owner, but I did a ton of research before getting him. So far things have been great and he’s really been chilling out and having a good time. I am quite the cook and I love cooking chicken, pork, beef, etc. But whenever I work with raw meat when I am all done and have washed my hands and put my apron away. I go into my room to see Alto and he smells me and it freaks him out. He will back away from me and one time he jumped quite far back. I felt really bad, I hope the poor guy didn’t think I wanted to eat him! He calms down after about 20-30 minutes after hiding under the bed for a bit. I looked on google and could only find posts about rabbits eating meat, which is not what I was wondering. Does my bunny know I was working with raw animal meat and does it frighten him?

[Bam]

It’s likely that your bun picks up on the smell of raw meat. Blood flour (made from freeze dried animal blood) is traditionally used as both a fertilizer and to deter rabbits and deer from veggie- and flower beds.

Not all rabbits freak out at the scent of meat, but some absolutely do. The meat doesn’t have to be raw, some buns panic at the scent of meat being cooked.

If this is a deep instinctive fear, the bun may never get used to this scent. Most buns do however get desensitised to sounds and smells they encounter often without any accompanying horrible event. This is an adaptation that f ex makes it possible for wild rabbits to live in cities, even though cities are very noisy and full of traffic and humans etc.

 

[kaitland]

Thanks so much!

[Author]

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