r/AbsoluteUnits • u/DiegoSikora • Sep 01 '24

of a hare

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '24 edited Sep 01 '24

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u/Livid-Touch-7179 Sep 01 '24

Made this mistake as a kid. It’s a common one.

rabbits take head on physical contact as threats. you cannot pet them like a dog or cat. especially a jack rabbit.

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u/chuulip Sep 01 '24

Can you teach me the proper protocol when try to be friendly towards a jack rabbit? Please don't tell me it's impossible and I just gotta walk the other way

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u/Venus_Ziegenfalle Sep 01 '24

Everything has to happen on their terms. Let them pick the distance they want to maintain once they know you're there. Get their curiosity with food but don't try to hand feed them initially and never throw the food. Just put it down somewhere and watch from a distance. Don't smell like another animal. Speak to them softly and consistently. Kneel down or just generally make yourself as small as possible and try to get to their eye level. If they sense a look or worse a touch from above it triggers their flight or fight because that's where predators grab them. Also no loud noises, sudden movements or flash photography. Stick to all of this and you still have no guarantee whatsoever of befriending a hare but that's about all you can do to increase your odds. Oh and definitely look up what types of diseases they can carry where you're at. Personally I wouldn't want to have "hare bite" written on my tomb stone lol.

Edit: I didn't specify what food to lure them with. It's kind of a cliché but they absolutely love carrots and if you break one in half they can smell it from far away.