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Question about rabbits

RedlegRedleg Member Posts: 417 ✭✭✭
edited October 2001 in General Discussion
All:When I was growing up, my Dad told me that you should not hunt or eat rabbits until after the first snow because the little critters might have a disease. Does this ring a bell with anybody? The reason I ask is there is a load of rabbits out behind my house and they look mighty tasty.Brian
Crush your enemies, drive their horses before you, hear the lamentation of their women.--Genghis Khan
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Comments

  • concealedG36concealedG36 Member Posts: 3,566 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I heard that before too. I think that they might have worms or other parasites that are killed off in winter. I'm not sure, though.
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  • 32wsl32wsl Member Posts: 68 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Fly magots, called "wolves", under the skin, I think. My grandaddy said the same thing. Never saw any myself. Have been rabbit hunting since'56.
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  • SP TigerSP Tiger Member Posts: 872 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Well, we couldn't wait for snow down here because it might never happen, but my Dad and I didn't go squirrel or rabbit hunting until after the first "killing" frost. His reasoning was because mosquitos would eat you alive and because critters such as rabbits and squirrels would sometimes have "wolves", I guess that's how it is spelled, a parasite worm that grows under the skin. That's probably just a Southern country folk's term. A more accurate term would probably be Botfly larvae. A Botfly lays its eggs against the skin of an animal, I think, and the larvae get under the skin where it grows. Cats and dogs get them as well. This may be what he was referring to.
    Better to have and not need, than need and not have.
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  • SP TigerSP Tiger Member Posts: 872 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    32wsl beat me to it. At least now I know someone else has heard the term "wolves" before, not referring to the four-legged critter.
    Better to have and not need, than need and not have.
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  • mag44mag44 Member Posts: 16 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Usually start rabbit hunting here in SWVA after the 1st couple of frosts. Just keep in mind to eyeball the livers when dressing out. If discolored or spotted, throw the whole thing to the varmits. The meat isn't any good. As far as the botfly, never seen any in the meat after skinning...Good eating!!!
    Ridge Running in SWVA
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  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    My dad always waited until the first killing frost also, probably thinking there would be fewer ectoparasites (external parasites). The white "worms" or "wolves" under the skin are called hydatids. They are an immature form of tapeworm in an intermediate host. Tapeworms have a complex life cycle that usually requires eggs to be injested by an intermediate host in which the hydatids develop. The hydatid encysts under the skin and waits until the intermediate host is eaten by a predator or hunter: the ultimate host. The hydatid then grows and changes into a mature (reproductive) tapeworm. The hard freeze/first snow is unlikely to impact endoparasites much, but does mostly eliminate ticks and lice. Simply remove the hydatids from the muscle surface with a knive when dressing. Freezing for a month before cooking and then cooking the meat done are always good ideas to prevent parasite transmission.
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  • RedlegRedleg Member Posts: 417 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Thanks Doctor He Dog! A little TMI, but interresting.
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  • 218Beekeep218Beekeep Member Posts: 3,033
    edited November -1
    In the Flarda Everglades country,my dad would kill a few swamp Rabbits/or brown rabbits,all in summer,when rain and high water would push them to high ground,alongside the road.He`d mention that cottontails had "wolves",in the summer,usualy under the neck skin,and that he`d never fool with them.
    Will the last reb to leave flarda,please bring the flag?
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  • whiteclouderwhiteclouder Member Posts: 10,574 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    redleg and He Dog:TMI? Not at all. That's what makes this board so interesting. Thanks HeDog.Clouder..
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  • grizgriz Member Posts: 425 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Redleg...you might also find the following link (and many others similar)of interest. http://hlunix.hl.state.ut.us/els/epidemiology/epifacts/tularem.html My grandmother nearly died of tularemia back in the 1940's before we had the modern day antibiotics we have today.
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  • arkresearcharkresearch Member Posts: 22 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Be a vegetarian ,rabitt meat tastes like cat meat,dog meat tastes better cow less, horsestinks ,but rabbit i hate ,put some c4 intheir burrows and blow them up! they are a pest! M100 will do if you canot get c4 I hatebugs bunny (damm communist rodent)send them all to afganistan full of antrax so bin ladin eats them .... I hate rodents..............
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  • 218Beekeep218Beekeep Member Posts: 3,033
    edited November -1
    So you`re a vegan,who hates rabbits...........ok.
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  • will270winwill270win Member Posts: 4,845
    edited November -1
    That boy might not be right, I don't know, just a guess.
    If you run, you'll just die tired!
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  • gunnutgunnut Member Posts: 724 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    sounds like a bunch of tree hugin hippie, oh never mind
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  • LowriderLowrider Member Posts: 6,587
    edited November -1
    There you have it. Another concise, to the point, laser beam-like opinion by the wise old sage Arkresearch.That dude has a mind like a steel trap.
    She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
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  • arkresearcharkresearch Member Posts: 22 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Well if you ever took * training.... Feed your dog very well,good healthy and fat ,kill him fast so he will not suffer long (Also makes meat tender and juicy)cook well and eat him slowly thinking the way he looked at you before you broke his neck , so you get the full energy from hismeat to your muscles ,and remember how he waged his tail and played with you at the training field , so when you have the chanceto get even with the * that gave you the order to kill him and eat him up,you have no remorse (serving him a hamburger fromhis own favorite pet ) Too bad it was a SKUNK HAHAHA! old memoirs never die !.... I still 'crave' for dog meat sowatch your dog out there ,don't worry if isa "rabbit eating" dog ,those I spare .....
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  • idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Thanks arkresearch. It is amazing how collective thought wanders so far from the subject at hand. My sloppy joes will sit so much better in my stomach while I sleep this evening.
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  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Our rabbit season typically doesn't open until the weather is cold and I never heard of the various parasites y'all have down South. My Dad & maternal grandfather hunted rabbits throughout their lives until one of their buddies died from Tualremia (sp). They made sure that there was no doubt in my mind that Thumper was off-limits.
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  • arkresearcharkresearch Member Posts: 22 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    The subject is related to "Eating animals"if you see todays news about MCD ,Micoplasmasand other meat related malady the relation isthe same ,If you see animals as other membersevolving in the strings of life alike yourself you will be a Vegetarian , in the american way of life the DOG is like your brother a "member of the family",loyal,lovedand respected ,the point is we don't eat thembut if it was a skunk it does not touch a nerve (they stink)so is the perfect "revenge" victim of the "memoir" but the subliminal stays " Eating meat is BAD foryou " eating animals is like eating your friends... Just for Meditation And goverment "red tape" makes you eat the DOG! "Programing" the collective
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  • 218Beekeep218Beekeep Member Posts: 3,033
    edited November -1
    O.K.,so I`m programmed....what`s next??? .218
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  • bartobarto Member Posts: 4,734 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    ok-you guys be nice to him. i personally believe him to be a total g
    d nut case.
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  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    And rabbits are not rodents they are lagomorphs.
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  • soopsoop Member Posts: 4,633
    edited November -1
    We never hunt rabbits till it`s good and cold.Tularemia is the reason.When I was a kid I was told that the sick rabbits wouldn`t survive the cold weather. I have only shot one rabbit that didn`t seem healthy. It had a pinkish liver with spots.
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