Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Wild Rabbit Safe To Eat?

Right On!

Luv that BAR shrapnel! I cooked a young cottontail in the crock pot yesterday with a can of cream of celery soup and it didn't last long,lol. We're still alive.

If you harvest a rabbit in the summertime where I live, they are usually covered with flea's and have some bot fly larvae living inside of them.

Once the first frost hits them, the bot flies larva either dies or goes away because the lumps disappear.

Tularemia is the biggest concern. It is more of a problem in warmer states than colder ones. When I was in school taking epidemiology many years ago, Arkansas was the tularemia hotspot of the US. I think there are far fewer cases now as fewer people subsist off the woods.

I used to not worry about catching anything until I got into healthcare and actually started seeing people with diseases from wild animals. I still trap and hunt as much as I used to, but now use gloves when skinning fur bearing animals and small game. I don't worry about deer.

I also try to limit when I contact these small, furry animals to winter time. Hopefully they have less fleas and ticks on them at that time, thereby decreasing the chances of getting something. Chances are pretty low, by the way.

So in answer to your question, yes, rabbits are safe to eat. Take some small precaution when handling them and you will be fine.

Funny, that's where I was when I got it. Doctors originally diagnosed it as childhood leukemia. I thought that was cool, as my father had cancer and we could go to treatments together.

Never stopped me from eating rabbits later in life. In fact, I'd love to eat one right now.

They always say after the first frost, I always wait until after the first snow, seems to work.

Man how soft America has become! Never thought I'd see hunting/shooting people afraid of eating rabbits.
There's ALWAYS stuiff you can catch from animals.
I remember back in nursing school that there are approx 50 diseses/parasites that you can catch from dogs and 52 that you can catch from cats. How many of you have a dog or cat? How many have a dog or cat living inside with your family? How many let them lick them in the face? Your kids face?
It's a wonder there is anyone left alive.........Laffin.

Maybe you just let the dog in with months that have a R in it.

BTW,
The month with the "R" in it thing comes from the days of no way to keep meat cold. As in they had no fridge and months without a "R" are the hottest.

It's the months oysters are good though not the best at either end.