Written by: Denise Lynn Skidmore
I thought I'd add rabbit in to the exotic meat rotation. First rabbit was last week, and a whole carcass that was gutted and skinned. Second rabbit was tonight...
This rabbit was 100% whole. He was so soft and fuzzy coming out of the bag, it was hard to see as meat. My husband said "stop petting it!"
Attempt 1: So into the food bowl it went. It did seem to have a bit of a bloody nose or mouth, but the smell was not enough, and Sailor kept looking around it "where's my liver chunk? It must be under this thing." Eventually he decided that I had not served food and laid back down to wait for his real dinner.
Attempt 2: I took a sharp knife and opened up the gut. This would be the typical first move of a wolf on large prey. I put it back in the crate. He sniffed once, and backed away from it.
Attempt 3: I luckily had managed on attempt 2 to pierce the skin without spilling stomach contents, so the next step was not too messy. I removed the intestines and stomach, which were all very full of feed. I opened up the body cavity so that the liver was easily visible.
Success!! First he spied the liver and started licking out the body cavity. The liver was consumed, and then the licking went on for awhile. Eventually I heard the pleasant sound of crunching. The meal was a bit large, so I expected to take leftovers away, but I now see no sign of rabbit in the crate.
Now I just hope that whole rabbit settles with his stomach as well as dressed rabbit does.
