Posted: 1/10/2012 1:19:56 PM EDT
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I live in the desert southwest, and was told in my youth that the local rabbit's are not safe to eat until the first hard frost of the year. After the first frost, no time was given as to how long the rabbits would be "safe" to eat. I therefore, have several questions:
1. What is the whole thing with the first frost? Is there any real reason that wild rabbits can not be consumed throughout the year in the southwest? 2. Is a rabbit infected with tularemia dangerous to eat? Or can the infection be dealt with by cooking very well? I.E. heating to a certain temp. 3. How do I identify a rabbit with a tularemia infection? It is my understanding that the liver will be "spotted", any other color variations? And what color will the spots be? 4. And finally, if other wise healthy what organ meats of a wild rabbit are safe to consume? I'll take the heart as a given. Remember, this is info for a survival situation. Any information will be appreciated. I have also watched several videos on youtube on how to dress a rabbit for consumption, any links to an infected/unsafe rabbit so I know what to look for Thanks FC2 |
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If there is any question, use rubber gloves when gutting the rabbit and look at the liver. If the liver "doesn't look right" don't go any farther.
This is what I was taught when I was a kid in Indiana, many, many years ago. This may get shouted down, but it is still what was the word then. |
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If there is any question, use rubber gloves when gutting the rabbit and look at the liver. If the liver "doesn't look right" don't go any farther. This is what I was taught when I was a kid in Indiana, many, many years ago. This may get shouted down, but it is still what was the word then. This. Funny thing, had an outbreak here in southern MD this summer, with at least one infected human. One of my boys caught a cottontail in a box trap yesterday and I CAREFULLY checked the liver. Looked fine. I kill up to 200 domestic rabbits a year and check EVERY one. |
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CDC Tularemia website
Examining the rabbit (eyeballing it) may not be absolutely reliable... always use good technique and cook meat well (don't eat rabbit "rare")... Hogs, bears, and other wildlife commonly harbor trichinosis but infections in people are pretty rare because of "good technique" in both handling and cooking... |
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Interesting anectdote, but not an answer to your question:
I used to work with a guy who was blind in one eye. He told me that he was gutting a rabbit when he was a child and got some blood in his eye and ended up with tularemia in the eye which resulted in blindness. There is apparently an oculoglandular form of tularemia which can cause blindness if not diagnosed and treated early enough. So, no answer, but one more thing to be paranoid about- wear glasses when you gut that rabbit. |
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The freeze will kill off any bugs, worms or parasites they have on them. That's all I got for you, I'm not one for hunting rabbits. It was my interpretation that the first cold snap would kill the infected animals and therefore the parasites/bacteria since their defenses were down from infection. Either way, it seems like COLD is one way to avoid exposure or at least decreasing your chances of being exposed. |
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The freeze will kill off any bugs, worms or parasites they have on them. That's all I got for you, I'm not one for hunting rabbits. It was my interpretation that the first cold snap would kill the infected animals and therefore the parasites/bacteria since their defenses were down from infection. Either way, it seems like COLD is one way to avoid exposure or at least decreasing your chances of being exposed. Interesting, pretty much why I don't shoot them here. It does freeze here at night in the winters but may be 70's in the afternoon... And I really don't see too many rabbits while out hunting. |
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Thank You All for the replies,
This is the type of information I've been trying to gather. What I got so far is, gloves and glasses while "dressing", any liver discoloration and the meat is suspect. For clarification, I will not eat any potentially infected meat, but another poster pointed out that the liver check may not be a 100% indicator. So, "well done" will kill off the infection? as someone implied/stated. Only to be eaten in a true survival situation of course. Thank again for the positive responses and sorry if I'm beating this horse looking for definitive, factual answers. Fc2 |
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Thank You All for the replies, This is the type of information I've been trying to gather. What I got so far is, gloves and glasses while "dressing", any liver discoloration and the meat is suspect. For clarification, I will not eat any potentially infected meat, but another poster pointed out that the liver check may not be a 100% indicator. So, "well done" will kill off the infection? as someone implied/stated. Only to be eaten in a true survival situation of course. Thank again for the positive responses and sorry if I'm beating this horse looking for definitive, factual answers. Fc2 I've always thought about hunting them and some guys do quite a bit around here and typically crockpot them. I went and did all the research on it a while back like you are doing now and came to the conclusion of, "eh, only if I have too or my boys want too."... ETA: What is your screen name in reference to? Your initials or Fire Controlman 2nd Class? |
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From Dec - April you will be fine, where gloves and cook to well done. stay away from jacks only eat cotton tail. I have lived in Yuma 48 years and never had a problem. When We were kids the local farmers would give us 25 cents a tail to hunt around the alfalfa fields dam fine eating 3 wabbits cut 2 cans cream mushroom soup 1 onion carrots garlic two cups water salt and pepper toss in crocpot in the am and let it cook 6 to 8 hours serve on a bed of rice with garlic bread |
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I'd never even heard of it until I came out west. The guy who told me about it showed me a rabbit he was skinning. It had a mess of big blisters between the hide and the meat. He said that was how you knew they were tularemic. Since rabbit isn't good for anything but making vegetable stew edible, I didn't bother to study further on it. |
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From Dec - April you will be fine, where gloves and cook to well done. stay away from jacks only eat cotton tail. I have lived in Yuma 48 years and never had a problem. When We were kids the local farmers would give us 25 cents a tail to hunt around the alfalfa fields dam fine eating 3 wabbits cut 2 cans cream mushroom soup 1 onion carrots garlic two cups water salt and pepper toss in crocpot in the am and let it cook 6 to 8 hours serve on a bed of rice with garlic bread What's wrong with jackrabbits? Are they more prone to infection? Not that I see any jacks here... |
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Follow up question, What are the implications then of VHD, (due to confirmed cases in the mid-west) And for out Aussie and British friends myxomatosis? Those are lagomorph diseases. Humans don't catch those from eating infected rabbits. Thanks, Good to know. |
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I live in the desert southwest, and was told in my youth that the local rabbit's are not safe to eat until the first hard frost of the year. After the first frost, no time was given as to how long the rabbits would be "safe" to eat. I therefore, have several questions: 1. What is the whole thing with the first frost? Is there any real reason that wild rabbits can not be consumed throughout the year in the southwest? F. tul is spread by ticks and mites. After the first frost the vector of infection for the rabbit population is severely affected, the outcome is that disease goes down because the vector isn't around much. 2. Is a rabbit infected with tularemia dangerous to eat? Or can the infection be dealt with by cooking very well? I.E. heating to a certain temp. They can be eaten if thoroughly cooked. Infection can happen from skinning though so it's not just consumption that gets you. You can be infected by getting bitten by a tick that was on the rabbit you just got. DEET and tick searching are good preventatives. Also, hit up the CDC web page for PROPER tick removal. You may find your preps are lacking a certain removal instrument after doing your research. 3. How do I identify a rabbit with a tularemia infection? It is my understanding that the liver will be "spotted", any other color variations? And what color will the spots be? White, pale to a white-ish version of the organ background color. The liver and spleen can become enlarged without spotting. If you're not familiar with typical liver or spleen size this can be difficult. The lungs can also carry spots but they won't enlarge. Spleen 
Liver 
Liver 
4. And finally, if other wise healthy what organ meats of a wild rabbit are safe to consume? I'll take the heart as a given. Remember, this is info for a survival situation. The whole thing can be consumed if cooked properly. The best cooking method is to pressure cook the parts. F. tul is a bacteria, if a good high temp is reached they will die. Any information will be appreciated. I have also watched several videos on youtube on how to dress a rabbit for consumption, any links to an infected/unsafe rabbit so I know what to look for Thanks FC2 Ftul is present in rabbit populations but not very high. If you're out hunting and come across a number of carcasses that can indicate an outbreak presence. Utah's most recent outbreak IIRC was 2007. Human infection is rare and region also tends to dictate severity. There are two types of tularemia: 1 - Francisella tularensis subsp tularensis, referred to as type A. 2 - Francisella holarctica subsp holarctica, referred to as type B. The United States predominantly observes cases of F. tularensis tularensis. Europe has high prevalence of F. tularensis holarctica. Two major clades of type A exist in the US, A1 and A2. A1 is most common in the Rockies. A2 is most common in the intermountain west and has reduced mortality. At the APHL conference in June I saw a poster from a post-doc in that was finding house cats to be a reservoir of type B tularemia in North Carolina I think, or one of the Virginias. |
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I live in the desert southwest, and was told in my youth that the local rabbit's are not safe to eat until the first hard frost of the year. After the first frost, no time was given as to how long the rabbits would be "safe" to eat. I therefore, have several questions: 1. What is the whole thing with the first frost? Is there any real reason that wild rabbits can not be consumed throughout the year in the southwest? F. tul is spread by ticks and mites. After the first frost the vector of infection for the rabbit population is severely affected, the outcome is that disease goes down because the vector isn't around much. 2. Is a rabbit infected with tularemia dangerous to eat? Or can the infection be dealt with by cooking very well? I.E. heating to a certain temp. They can be eaten if thoroughly cooked. Infection can happen from skinning though so it's not just consumption that gets you. You can be infected by getting bitten by a tick that was on the rabbit you just got. DEET and tick searching are good preventatives. Also, hit up the CDC web page for PROPER tick removal. You may find your preps are lacking a certain removal instrument after doing your research. 3. How do I identify a rabbit with a tularemia infection? It is my understanding that the liver will be "spotted", any other color variations? And what color will the spots be? White, pale to a white-ish version of the organ background color. The liver and spleen can become enlarged without spotting. If you're not familiar with typical liver or spleen size this can be difficult. The lungs can also carry spots but they won't enlarge. Spleen http://www.unbc.ca/nlui/wildlife_diseases_bc/tularemia_spleen.jpg?iact=hc&vpx=389&vpy=161&dur=806&hovh=172&hovw=292&tx=120&ty=79&sig=101645181844306969342&ei=_VQOT63CPMOZiQKEw5zeDQ&page=1&tbnh=110&tbnw=186&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0 Liver http://inlinethumb21.webshots.com/42196/2206477250034585732S425x425Q85.jpg Liver http://cueflash.com/cardimages/answers/thumbnails/1/6/6161271.jpg 4. And finally, if other wise healthy what organ meats of a wild rabbit are safe to consume? I'll take the heart as a given. Remember, this is info for a survival situation. The whole thing can be consumed if cooked properly. The best cooking method is to pressure cook the parts. F. tul is a bacteria, if a good high temp is reached they will die. Any information will be appreciated. I have also watched several videos on youtube on how to dress a rabbit for consumption, any links to an infected/unsafe rabbit so I know what to look for Thanks FC2 Ftul is present in rabbit populations but not very high. If you're out hunting and come across a number of carcasses that can indicate an outbreak presence. Utah's most recent outbreak IIRC was 2007. Human infection is rare and region also tends to dictate severity. There are two types of tularemia: 1 - Francisella tularensis subsp tularensis, referred to as type A. 2 - Francisella holarctica subsp holarctica, referred to as type B. The United States predominantly observes cases of F. tularensis tularensis. Europe has high prevalence of F. tularensis holarctica. Two major clades of type A exist in the US, A1 and A2. A1 is most common in the Rockies. A2 is most common in the intermountain west and has reduced mortality. At the APHL conference in June I saw a poster from a post-doc in that was finding house cats to be a reservoir of type B tularemia in North Carolina I think, or one of the Virginias. Outstanding post! |
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What's wrong with jackrabbits? Are they more prone to infection? Not that I see any jacks here... I think his distinction was that jackrabbits aren't as good to eat as cottontails. Jackrabbits are like American Coots and Carp, generally regarded as the "trash" game. Jacks aren't more prone to infection, cottontails aren't safer to eat. Any species severity attribution is likely based on the more pathogenic bacteria type residing in the regions of the US where jacks just show up. |
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I was reading an article last night on the persistence of Category A biological agents (which includes F. tularensis). I was a little surprised by two things in the article. (Link to the article. It's a PDF.) 1. "Waterborne outbreaks of F. tularensis have been documented (38, 68, 87). F. tularensis type A has been isolated from natural waters and mud contaminated by muskrats and beavers (69), and the organisms may be capable of multiplication in these environments (35, 69). F. tularensis type B has also been isolated from surface waters, including drinking water supplies (22, 83)." (page 560, first full paragraph) 2. F. tularensis survives a long time in regular tap water (~30 days) and even longer in cell culture media. (page 559, table 6) The paper lists transmission by aerosols, fecal matter, water, and fomites (e.g., surfaces like paper to which the pathogen can adhere and often survive for a long time). An infected rabbit after the frost will still have lots of bacteria living in its tissues. If you are handling rabbits, wear gloves, check livers and other organs, discard any infected animal, and keep your work area clear of blood- or fecal-smeared paper, wood, etc. Tularemia isn't terribly lethal, but it is incredibly infectious. The infective dose is less than 100 bacilli, which is on the very low end of the spectrum. It will make you very sick. |
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I'd never even heard of it until I came out west. The guy who told me about it showed me a rabbit he was skinning. It had a mess of big blisters between the hide and the meat. He said that was how you knew they were tularemic. Since rabbit isn't good for anything but making vegetable stew edible, I didn't bother to study further on it. I'm pretty sure those blisters are a parasite, not tularemia. I used to live in AZ and shot a lot of jacks. I researched it at the time and if I remember correctly, the large watery blisters found on the surface of the large muscles (back and thigh) just under the skin is caused by a parasite, not a bacterial infection. I've seen a literal ton of jacks skinned. And at least at that time (mid '70s) it was rare to find one that did not have those blisters. I used to work at a factory and five or ten of us would get together on the weekend and do a search and destroy sweep in the desert South of Phoenix. One of the guys had a buddy that was a desert rat and ran a pack of dogs. The dogs were fed on jack rabbits (which are really a hare). We collected the dead jacks and brought them to the desert rat, who cooked them in a 55 gal drum of boiling water set up in his back yard. On a poor day there would only be a few, but on some days there would be a couple dozen skinned out and pretty much all had the blisters. FWIW the smell coming off that boil cured me of any inclination to eat one. Funny story. One day eight or ten of us were out for jacks (everybody shooting .22 LR autoloaders). We had finished a sweep and were walking back to the trucks down a dirt road. We are marching (actually diddy-bopping) four or five abreast in two ranks joking and shooting the shit. Lo and behold, about 75 yards down the road in front of us, a huge jack hops out (they don't really hop but please allow me this literary device) to the middle of the road from our left. This critter stands up straight and just looks at us. Now 75 yards on a big jack is a really easy shot. For those that have never seen a good sized one I hope this will give you an idea of what size critter I'm talking about, especially if you are only familiar with cotton tails. One night right after I first moved out to the desert, on my way home I hit a jack rabbit with my car. I stopped because of the loudness of the strike and was so impressed with its size I wanted to show it to my kids. Not wanting to put the bloody thing in my car, I threw it on the hood and drove the short distance home. From the tips of the its hind paws to the top of its long ears, it stretched all the way across the hood of my '68 Mercury Cougar, no BS fender to fender. These are not tiny critters. So back to my story. We're walking four or five abreast with the second rank no more than a pace behind. With no prior practice or planning, in a move so smooth it would have been admired by the best of 1700s British infantry, our front rank dropped to one knee and everybody opens up simultaneously. Somewhere between a hundred and a hundred-fifty rounds were expended in a few seconds (IIRC my Marlin held 17 .22s). The dirt road around that jack exploded. And of course not a single round found its mark. We all stood there, slack jawed, holding empty rifles while this jack rabbit gave us a wave and sauntered off about his business. |
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