DIET: Don't laugh, but rabbits are scarce; producers can't ship bunny meat fast enough

West Virginia Gazette ^ | August 7, 2005 | J.M. HIRSCH

[BTCM]

Worked in a butcher shop on Fridays and Saturdays while in college and state law (Fla.) at that time required one rear foot remain on the rabbits carcass to identify it as not being a kitty cat.

[Prime Choice]

Snuffalufagus looks a lot like my late bunny, Bailey.

[Prime Choice]

First it was cats & dogs. Then baby duckies. Then rabbits. Little Lambies will be next.

The minute they tell me I can't eat beaver, I'm gonna riot.

[harpu]

"Arden Rabbit Meat"

Bon appetit

[Texas Songwriter]

My grandfather used to raise about 8 or 9 rabbits twice or three times per year. He kept a buck and doe. When the little ones were 2 weeks old they were removed from their mother and begun on rabbit food. If you leave the babies where the buck can get to them, the will kill them and eat them. Anyway, my grandfather loved those rabbits. He would pet them and sit in a lawn chair and pet them. Then, the day they turned 8 weeks old he would go out and pick them up by the hind legs. Once they were just hanging down he took what looked like a small baseball bat and hit them just behind the head. They never moved or knew what happened. Then he would skin them and not get one hair on the flesh. That was a big item with my grandmother. We ate a lot of rabbits. Smothered or dumplings, sometimes like chicken fried steak. Squirril pretty much the same taste.

As you all know the rabbit is not a member of the family Rodentia. It is a member of the Family Lagomorphae. The differentiation has to do with the fact that they have 2 pairs of upper and lower incisors whereas the Rodents have a single pair of incisors.

Both are very tasty if properly prepared.

My grandfather used to tell me that in East Texas, wild rabbits would carry "wolves" in their flesh. That was a type of parasite. If a rabbit was killed in the hot summer months the "wolves" were present and made the flesh inedible. If, however, they were killed once the weather turned cool, the parasite could not be found.

That is pretty much all I know about rabbits.

[ApplegateRanch]

I'll join you, in that case!

My favorite beaver recipe involves a preliminary waxing step....

[PAR35]

If they can't 'endangerize' it off the market, or regulate it to oblivion, they cutsie it off the table.

It's going to take a lot of work for them to get rid of catfish.

[radiohead]

That is pretty much all I know about rabbits.

Jeez. Sounds like enough.

Tho I would never eat one, if people want to raise rabbits for meat, that's their thing. What I don't get is petting them, etc., then killing them. Just fatten 'em up in a pen and be done with it.

[radiohead]

I can't wait to finish my degree and get a house. My son and I have toyed with setting aside a room, laying linoleum and letting a bunch of rabbits just hang out.

In real life, since I don't see any grandchildren on the horizon, I'll probably just get two bunnies to spoil.

[ApplegateRanch]

It's going to take a lot of work for them to get rid of catfish.

I'll help get rid of catfish.

My wife & I are more than happy to eat them into oblivion.LOL

[Prime Choice]

That's very cool. Both of the bunnies here were rescues. Bucky (the one shown in an earlier post with a Martian backdrop) is still with me. He's almost 10 years old now.
Bailey was over 8 years old when she passed away. It wasn't until long afterward that I learned that dwarf rabbits typically live only 5 to 7 years.

[Texas Songwriter]

He was a very kind man who loved animals. All animals. He would never be cruel or unkind to any animal.

He lived thru the depression and was very, very poor. At times, all he and his family had to eat was a squirril or rabbit. He hunted out of an area in Texas, Anhuac. The 30's were very difficult times and he did all he knew to provide for his wife and 3 kids.

As far as his rabbits, he would never hurt them in any way. He really did love the animals. But when it came to providing food for the table, it was his nature to provide.

I remember my grandmother would can preserves, figs, wild plums, peaches. She would freeze peaches. Dehydrate apples. It was her nature not to waste anything. She gave much of it away, but neither she nor my grandfather wasted anything. I am sorry to say I am not as careful with my bounty.

[ChildOfThe60s]

Not only that, them puppies is real.

And for you kiddies out there that aren't old enough to remember the days before boob jobs, size doesn't matter - but real does.

Now, on to the meat of the matter. When is Thumper arriving on a platter?

[eeriegeno]

Rabbits are fast..... As the male rabbit said to the female rabbit, "This won't hurt, did it?"

And she said, "It aint no big thing!"

[adam_az]

"What is the ratio for rabbit?"

2 rabbits and 1 pound of grain produce 20 more rabbits ;)

Then add an extra pound of grain to make some pancakes for their heads.

[joesnuffy]

Hassenpheffer..

I got rabbits all over the place...will have to start culling
them after the first hard frost..

Before they draw in the coyotes..

[Surtur]

I like roast squirrel pretty good too. It has a sweet, nutty taste, but there's not much meat there.

[radiohead]

I am sorry to say I am not as careful with my bounty.

I am trying to do better. I see that I waste so much food, even when I'm trying to be economical. We don't finish what's in the fridge but go shopping for more. I find stuff hidden away that I forgot I bought.

I think we are too used to having special foods and interesting meals all the time; we forget that the idea is to provide sustenence. If I had to go out and hunt it or raise it, or hope that what I had now would last til next season, I'm sure I'd be more careful.

[Atchafalaya]

Typical rabbit, dumping on the high ground.

[Atchafalaya]

Funny, I cooked two today from the freezer to make room. Browned, sauteed onions, bells, garlic, 8oz rotel tomatoes/1/4 cup red wine(cook down), add browned meat with water to simmer until tender. I only have two left so lock and load for next season. Better than chicken, fo sho!