Rabbit advice

Is this the safe time of the year to eat wild rabbit? I thought they were a safe to eat only during cold weather critter. My memory is they can be wormy during the summer.

Let me know if this is screwy thinking.


Hassenpfeffer is a classic (German) rabbit dish.

I kind of like them breaded, fried and served with gravy, carrots, onions and steamed turnip roots.


Here is what Mr. Google says:

"It's unsafe to eat wild rabbits or hares before the first hard frost of the year. If you eat a wild rabbit sooner, the meat will have parasites."


This guy will have good recipes. It is what he does for a living. He has pages and pages of recipes on his website.

quote:

---

Is this the safe time of the year to eat wild rabbit? I thought they were a safe to eat only during cold weather critter. My memory is they can be wormy during the summer.

---

Creole mustard sauce is my favorite
LINK /
wickowick classic

If you’re in LA, you are way way way outside rabbit season.

You’re fine (unless green jeans sees this and decides to pursue the ole taking game out of season thing). The parasite that is being referenced is the larva of a bot fly that can sometimes burrow into the skin and create an unsightly looking boil. Most people call them “wolves”. You would have seen it right off if the rabbit had wolves. And even it it did they typically don’t hurt the meat in any way. Enjoy your rabbit. If it’s a cottontail it will be tender enough to quarter and fry. If it’s a swamp rabbit I would cook down in a gravy of some sorts.

don't throw it away

Put him in a bag with a bottle of cheap Italian dressing. I do it for two days, and then just pot roast him. It will be very tender. Season as normal. You will see the worms if it has any.

Mr. Degas - I never said you couldn't eat them now, I only said I believe you may get several nasty parasites if you do. Of course this is no problem for a stepper.

They (Virtually all of them) carry the organism that causes Tularemia, which could become a problem, even for a stepper.

However, go for it if you like.

We have 15 or 20 in our neighborhood that eat everything they can. I have been trapping them for three years and haven't made much of a dent in the population. When I catch one (Live trap, baited with a piece of apple and the trap sprayed with apple cider vinegar) I carry them off somewhere down the Natchez Trace and put them out. As I drive away in my truck, I swear I have heard one or two crying out, "But I'm a city hare. I know nothing about being a country hare!"

Tough luck for them. If anyone here (Coater?) wants a few, I'll be glad to pop their necks and bring them by. I guess I could bring them as pets for your kiddies. Once a kid has tularemia and recovers, they will (hopefully) develop antibodies and be slick.

My dad and his brothers, back in the 1930s, hunted them on ditch banks with their dogs and a stick. He said His Daddy told them a hare was not worth a cartridge. Of course, they were hungry, so they had that going for them. My uncle Matt (Dad's brother) could hit one with a stick of stove wood from 10 yards away. He would have been a contender in baseball, except WWII changed all of their plans. 7 brothers, all went to fight in Europe. All came home.