It’s always interesting to watch Noe eat her hay. When she likes the batch we’ve bought her, she gets really into it.
Notice the paws delicately resting on the little hay stack? She pulled that out of her basket so she could climb all over it. She ignores the hay that’s underfoot until we fluff it up for her.
And of course she often assumes that what’s inside the basket is better than what’s already been pulled out. Maybe the smell of the good stuff is magnified inside.