Wild rabbit

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McCall St. Brewer

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My neighborhood is experiencing a rabbit population explosion this year. Rabbits are literally everywhere, chomping away at everyone's grass, gardens and shrubbery.

I got to thinking about this today while looking at a particularly plump looking little bunny. When I was younger my friends and I used to trap and eat them. We lived in an area that at the time was on the edge of our town, so it was semi-rural. I live in a built-up neighborhood in a town now, but I'm wondering, what's the difference? Is there any reason why I couldn't be trapping and eating a few of those rabbits here? I do seem to recall that we did most of our trapping in colder weather. Was there a reason for that?
 
Id be more worried about pesticides in the bunny

Otherwise its time to bowhunt or get a silencer for your .22
 
I'd be a little worried about pesticides too..... But that wouldn't stop me from chowing down on some kick ass stew! Just keep it on the DL or some idiot neighbor is gonna have a cow!
 
Better check your seasons!!! the boys in green will be all over you!!! You dont have to be worried about pesticides. Ive been huntin cotton and corn fields my whole life and we consume mass quantities of wild game....No prob. here
 
I was wondering about that, too-- herbicides, and fertilizers, actually, more than pesticides. I wonder if the rabbits know enough not to eat someone's lawn that has just been sprayed down by Chem-Lawn?

They all look very healthy, though.
 
MSbrewer said:
Better check your seasons!!! the boys in green will be all over you!!! You dont have to be worried about pesticides. Ive been huntin cotton and corn fields my whole life and we consume mass quantities of wild game....No prob. here
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Forgot about that. I'm pretty sure there are trapping seasons here, and I suspect that June is not in season.
 
having grown up eating wild rabbit....I can tell you that they are safe....certain times of the year.
DO NOT eat a rabbit before the first Hard Freeze. They get a disease in the summer called Rabbit fever. It's NASTY. IF You must eat them in the summer, inspect the liver for spots. if it is a nice purple red and even colored, you'll likely be ok.
If you end up with the screaming ****s...you'll know you should have waited till the snow.

P.S.
They freeze like a champ...and you can't beat them on the grill.
 
BigKahuna said:
having grown up eating wild rabbit....I can tell you that they are safe....certain times of the year.
DO NOT eat a rabbit before the first Hard Freeze. They get a disease in the summer called Rabbit fever. It's NASTY. IF You must eat them in the summer, inspect the liver for spots. if it is a nice purple red and even colored, you'll likely be ok.
If you end up with the screaming ****s...you'll know you should have waited till the snow.

P.S.
They freeze like a champ...and you can't beat them on the grill.
Click to expand...

yeah, I'd just stay away from rabbit until the first freeze like he said. I don't know anyone who hunts rabbit outside of winter.
 
-Dan- said:
A little trap and hammer works just fine
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If that doesn't become the name of someone's IIPA, I'm gonna club a baby seal!

Sorry for the :off: but I couldn't resist.

Also, eating a city bunny couldn't be much worse than eating a dog or cat, or hobo for that matter. I say go for it!
 
Rabbit is wonderful. The natural produce market in town sells whole frozen rabbits for 5$, So good. Pesticides not a problem. Even the farm bred rabbits are fed so many hormones and drugs in there food anyways. Wild rabbit does taste a little different then farm though. Wild has a stronger gamey taste that is actually much nicer then the farm bred ones. I go through probably a rabbit a month and savior every moment. Wonderful meat

I cook it whole. Cut slits in the skin and push garlic cloves in. Rub it down with course pepper, salt, minced onion and sage.
 
Pet store rabbits are not grain fed. They are rabbit food fed. Which means they get antibiotics, Coat thickeners and extra fats and proteins. I raised rabbits for years when I lived with my parents. Its cheaper to feed them actual rabbit food then it is natural grain.
 
Chairman Cheyco said:
If that doesn't become the name of someone's IIPA, I'm gonna club a baby seal!

Sorry for the :off: but I couldn't resist.

Also, eating a city bunny couldn't be much worse than eating a dog or cat, or hobo for that matter. I say go for it!
Click to expand...

:off:

Dang you know, all these years and your user name and avatar never dawned on me :D. LOL. Best show evar. EVAR. That's some seriously entertaining television right there. I have been DVR'ing all the episodes, even though I've probably seen most of them once some twice.
 
McCall St. Brewer said:
I live in a built-up neighborhood in a town now, but I'm wondering, what's the difference? Is there any reason why I couldn't be trapping and eating a few of those rabbits here?
Click to expand...

My only concern about you setting traps in a more suburban setting is that you may injure/capture unintended animals - probably people's pets.
 
So really no eating rabbits in the summer? I don't get it. Isn't it the same animal no matter the temperature outside? Is this a regional thing? I just set out some rabbit traps for the same idea. I live in wisconsin if that makes any difference.
 
My friend and I used to hunt them with BB guns when we were kids. (well I did the hunting, he did the skinning and cooking) Worked every time!
 
I have not been able to find any information on not eating rabbits in the summer. It sounds like they would have this disease all the time if they have it. When preparing rabbit it is advised to treat it like chicken... avoid handling it with open wounds on your hands, and be sure to thoroughly cook the meat.

Wouldn't a change in diet just change the taste of the meat, maybe only a little? It seems they are eating mostly grass, and other vegetation (along with their poo :() all year round.

Is this an urban myth, or am I missing something? Is the problem that all the diseased rabbits die with the onset of winter?
 
You have another issue that you'll need to contend with. You say you live in Urban area, you better make a plan.
Sooner or later, you will end up with a skunk in your trap. THEN WHAT"CHEW GONNA DO?
Where I live, You shoot it...in the trap then dump it. If you live in the city....that may not be an option. Remember that if you try and use a BB Gun or similar, you are likely to be sprayed before you get it killed.
 
Yeah, you should be prepared to catch things other than rabbits. A skunk would be unfortunate for sure. Mean bastids. I would get a smaller sized trap to try and avoid the skunks, I have never had that problem.
 
Can you use a humane trap, and then just shoot it (with even a beebee gun?) if it's a rabbit? If it's a skunk or someone's pet you would just be able to open the door and run away. No problems.
 
cant eat rabbits in summertime out here. I've shot a couple and while they are laying there dead their skin is still just squirming. They are chock full of worms during the summer
 
Buy a live trap, so people won't start screaming in your face, "You're killing bunnies!"
 
WEll, it's gotta be better than an injured skunk that you have to try to kill with a beebee gun. Save the beebee gun to kill the animal that WON'T spray you while you're doing it :)
 
No No.
I'm saying that if you catch a skunk in a live trap...how are you going to get it out alive? It will spray you if you try and get near the cage, and you don't want to be shooting at skunks with BB guns...you'll get sprayed.

Fortunately, skunks are not very hearty, and it will die within about a day or so in the cage.

Too bad it isn't winter....I do love Cotton Tail....and if you've got a pressure cooker, I can even make JackRabbit pretty tastey.


Good Luck on this one.
 
BigKahuna said:
You've never had a skunk in a cage before have you?:D
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I'd be more scared of a raccoon. I've caught a few of those during mammal surveys and they are nasty bastards. Stinking is one thing (if you get sprayed), but a raccoon would try to take your hand off.
 
McCall St. Brewer said:
My neighborhood is experiencing a rabbit population explosion this year. Rabbits are literally everywhere, chomping away at everyone's grass, gardens and shrubbery.

I got to thinking about this today while looking at a particularly plump looking little bunny. When I was younger my friends and I used to trap and eat them. We lived in an area that at the time was on the edge of our town, so it was semi-rural. I live in a built-up neighborhood in a town now, but I'm wondering, what's the difference? Is there any reason why I couldn't be trapping and eating a few of those rabbits here? I do seem to recall that we did most of our trapping in colder weather. Was there a reason for that?
Click to expand...
Hi McCall St. Brewer: I've hunted rabbits/hares for years, but I don't hunt them in late spring or summer for 2 reasons: 1 being that springtime females are usualy pregnant & that's not something I like to deal with when gutting/skinning them. The 2nd is Tularemia, AKA "rabbit fever". It can be transmitted to humans through a cut or scrape on your skin, and I've heard through eating the meat raw or undercooked. Late spring & summer is when this disease is most prevalent out here in the western 1/2 of the US, but I'm not sure about your area. Do a google search on Tularemia for more detailed info. Hope you find this info useful. Regards, GF.
 
Grew up hunting and eating rabbits as well.....Rabbits are carrying what we called Warbles during the spring and summer, Warbles are a parasite just under the rabbits skin and they are nasty looking.

The Warbles die off just after the first good frost.....
 
rebeltruce said:
Grew up hunting and eating rabbits as well.....Rabbits are carrying what we called Warbles during the spring and summer, Warbles are a parasite just under the rabbits skin and they are nasty looking.

The Warbles die off just after the first good frost.....
Click to expand...

Yep. Warbles are botfly larvae. The warbles don't actually die off, the adult fly dies off, therefore no more larvae. 1st hard-frost kills the adults. Deer have them too, year round in their nasal passages.

Link
 

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