Rabbit Traps and Recipes thread

**Incognito** · 05-03-2009, 08:23 PM

For years, rabbits have eaten off much of my tiny backyard garden, and my garden is very important for food for my table.
This year, I have decided I would like to try to trap the rabbits, and use their meat for rabbit recipes, maybe salt-tan & stretch their hides, and make slippers.
Any advice on these 2 subjects?
Do I need a license to trap or snare them on my own yard in town?
Please don't tell me I'm wrong, or cruel...I need my garden and it's them or me! And I'm not interested in trying to deter them any more;
it's come to this.
I hope to hear from those of you who are like-minded, and experienced in the subject; thank-you.

PS1: I also have backyard squirrels, but so far we get along ok.
So, squirrel recipes are optional, at this point.

PS2: I don't own a gun.

**ladytoysdream** · 05-03-2009, 09:46 PM

We have one cousin who has a farm. And loves her garden......
and woe be to any rabbit she catches out there. If it stands still too long, it ends up in her kitchen.

I think it's open season on any pests........

I used to raise domestic meat rabbits for 10 years. Wild bunnies and tame bunnies don't taste the same.

We have a lot of bunnies on our 2 acres. So far, we get along good.
Hope I don't find a idiot in the garden though. It may not be pretty.
I can borrow a havaheart trap and then take bunny for a long ride.

Good luck

**hotprincesscm** · 05-03-2009, 09:50 PM

I don't see anything wrong with it...You need to feed your family. But I would check with your local town ordinances..I'm not a hunter...so I really don't know the rules!

**LastDragonfly** · 05-03-2009, 10:08 PM

I would check local ordinances first. I would also be concerned that they might be diseased of some kind. I know out here in NM wild rabbits sometimes carry bubonic plague or rabies.....

**fixer** · 05-03-2009, 11:06 PM

I applaud your approach to this problem. Most people would eliminate the creature without taking the time to utilize it. Be sure to check your local game laws. The one word of cation I have is protect your self from tularemia aka rabbit fever. I have posted a link with all of the pertinent information.

http://health.utah.gov/epi/fact_sheets/tularem.htm

**Incognito** · 05-04-2009, 10:06 PM

Thanks for all of your replies; but I've been pondering the words plague??? and rabies???
Now I'm too scared to trap or eat rabbits!!!

PS: You might say, I'm as scared as ... well....a rabbit....

**pollypurebred39** · 05-05-2009, 12:00 AM

It hasn't been that long ago that it was common place to eat wild rabbits. It's a good idea to avoid in the Spring due to worms, after that just fine. It really comes down to common sense. First the rabbit needs to accessed of good health . Running your finger through its fur checking for bumps, or sores, eyes should be clean and clear. it goes without saying that if these thing are present the rabbit is not healthy enough to eat. (The butcher does the exact same check for the food he butchers and puts in his meat case.)Most rabbits are healthy and free of diesase, and rabies. Would you eat a dear or a wild turkey someone hunted? There's little difference. The thing you need to remember is that you should wear gloves while skining and butchering, and ALL wild game MUST be cooked throughly. Cooking wild game to well done kills those pesky germs, just like in poultry or beef. You can die from supermarket meat if it's not cooked well. All Wild game should get a 24 hour soak in salt water. Pulls toxins out and reduces that gamey taste.

**old_lady_in_the_shoe** · 05-06-2009, 09:17 PM

In most areas there are seasons for hunting rabbits, even on your own property, so I would call my local game warden or extension office to find out first.

You said you were going to trap them, but how do you intend to "kill" them once in the trap? This can be a problem in may ways. The only real safe way is to shoot them, so you are not trying to reach into the trap to get it out. You can be bitten, scratched or the like if you do that. If you do intend to shoot them, make sure you are in an area that you can discharge a gun, because some areas that are considered "in town" you cannot legally do so.

If you know both of those, then I say you are in business. Wild rabbit is dark and lean meat, but good to eat. You can cook it almost any way you would chicken or pork. You can cut it up and fry it like chicken, or bake it whole like chicken. I like to boil it, and then strip off all the meat from the bones. A lot of the bones are small, and thin. I like to use the meat to make "chicken and noodles". Same recipe, different meat.
You can also roast it in a roaster, with some mushroom gravey over it (or cream of mushroom soup) then serve it with rice or noodles.

One other tip, place your traps by wooded areas, or under brushey areas, because rabbits will not just go out into the open, but they will stay by underbrush, or in wooded areas to stay away from preditors.
Good luck.

**Momto2Boyz** · 05-07-2009, 08:52 AM

I would take the advice of many here and call your local extension office. They can give you great info on what is legal and what is not. They can also give you great information on what kinds of diseases are carried by animals in your area. They can tell you what to look for when you have a trapped rabbit and wether or not to eat it.

I actually never thought about trapping the rabbits (we have thousands of them on our block). I have issues with eating animals that I have seen alive (it's not a cruelty thing, I grew up on a farm, so I am fully aware that animals die for us to eat...just not a fan of seeing thier little brown eyes staring at me first). But I wouldn't mind trapping them and releasing them in a forest preserve somewhere. And I know my neighbors would help...they are driving everyone crazy, and they are multiplying in huger numbers than normal this year (we think due to the fact that we haven't seen our resident owl yet this year). I might have to check to see if I can trap and move them legally!

**miss_thrifty** · 05-07-2009, 09:54 AM

i agree check forst with ur ordinace but here we couldnt eat them for years , banned beacus u could get really sick. we use to when the kids were small and set snares, good eating but then coyotes took over and poof half eaten rabbit dead in trap yuck. alot. so we quit then years later the disease they took. don tknow name of it.

**miss_thrifty** · 05-07-2009, 09:56 AM

soory didnt answerall ur question:
mostky we made rabbit fricos( soups) and baked them in onion and seasonings. partridges is good too but not alot of meat.

**IndigoMom** · 05-07-2009, 10:43 AM

I know that's what my grandfather used to do. I remember once we came into his back yard and he had a rabbit strung up right by the back door - I remember it because we were very young and it was Easter Sunday! Talking about "Every year, I tell that Easter Bunny stay out of my garden - now he stays out!"
We laugh now, because we remember all the times we asked what a dish was and he'd take a sample and say "I don't know, tastes like chicken" Now we have a pretty good idea what "Tastes like chicken" is.