Rabbits

[armb]

Is it (a) legal (b) safe to cook and eat wild rabbits that have thrown themselves to their death under the wheels of your bicycle?
This is a hypothetical question, but only just - I had to brake quite hard for the one that changed its mind which way it was going to jump three times.

Comments

[tattercoats.livejournal.com]

Legal - well, I believe that you're not supposed to pick up deer or pheasant that you know down, but rabbits are really pests rather than game, aren't they? In practice - I wouldn't hesitate.

If it's fresh, it's pretty safe, too, unless the beast was diseased when it died. Paunch as soon as you can, looking at the innards for signs of illness - I think the liver and kidneys are good indicators there. Then skin, wash, and stick in the pot. If you fancy tanning the skin, let me know how it goes, as I've a dozen skins in the freezer!

Roadkill can be yummy, free, organic meat. Go for it.

[grey-lady.livejournal.com]

That said, I've been told that a summer-kill rabbit skin can be rather patchy, as the fur coat isn't 'homogenous' and stable.

In the USA I'd say no - there are warnings about wild rabbit and tularaemia, but that doesn't appear to be an issue here - or at least not one I've heard about.

[armb.livejournal.com]

> unless the beast was diseased when it died

That was my main worry. Searching for myxamotosis information tells me what an obviously ill rabbit looks like, and how to get my pet rabbit vaccinated, but not whether eating an infected-but-resistent (so not obviously ill) rabbit has any risk or not.

How to spot disease

[(Anonymous)]

Check the internal organs look healthy and don't have any white-ish spots on them, which means mxymatosis.

I've done it many times (pigeon too) It's legal and delicious - enjoy !

Dave Alexander