Beaver, muskrat, etc. as food

[Texas Star]

I posted in another thread about Jeff Cooper having mentioned taking small game animals like western rock marmot for food while backpacking or in wilderness survival.

Have any of you eaten beaver, marmots, woodchucks, muskrats, etc. as food?

I know the oldtime mountain men ate beaver, and the tail was considered a fatty delicacy.

Do you encounter any diseases or parasites that might affect consuming rodents and such? Of course, people eat tree squirrels...Ground squirrels and maybe prairie dogs might have too many dangerous parasites to consider. I know that the plains Indians ate them, but it may be too risky for us.

Please keep this clean, on topic, and don't make any "beaver"-eating jokes that might get the topic closed.

Thanks.

 

[diamonback68]

When I was a kid and my dad and I trapped in the winter for Christmas money, we had many neighbors who gladly took our coon and muskrat carcasses for their table. We never ate any of them so were glad to pass them on.

 

[gunlovingirl]

I've gone to a sportsman's club wild game dinner a few times. They had quite a selection. I do remember trying muskrat. It was the only thing I didn't care for. Mainly because it was mostly bone with very little meat.

 

[ogilvyspecial]

I've eaten Beaver, Muskrat, Woodchuck, Raccoon, pretty much all of them small critters.

A word of advice, many of them, expecially Beaver & Woodchuck, have a strong gamey taste that you have to deal with, usually through par boiling to start.

 

[Iggy]

Having trapped and skinned hundreds of muskrats as source of income as I kid, I can tell you I wouldn't even consider cooking or eating one of them. They don't call them MUSKrats for nuthin'.

Bein' an ol mountain man re-enactor, I have had the opportunity to try various critters, bear, beaver, mountain lion, rattlesnake, turtle etc. Some is good, some is wonderful, and some is better than starvin' but not much.

 

[ogilvyspecial]

Having trapped and skinned hundreds of muskrats as source of income as I kid, I can tell you I wouldn't even consider cooking or eating one of them. They don't call them MUSKrats for nuthin'.

Bein' an ol mountain man re-enactor, I have had the opportunity to try various critters, bear, beaver, mountain lion, rattlesnake, turtle etc. Some is good, some is wonderful, and some is better than starvin' but not much.

I agree! The first time my wife cooked a Beaver she didn't follow the recipe and what we ended up with was rough, to say the least.

Even though I had recived money from the pelt I tried to jutsify the effort my wife put into it by eating it, no matter what. She was smart enough to not even try.

I figured that if I made sandwiches out of it that I could use enough condiments to "fix it." Not so. I had to control my gag reflex just to take the first two bites and after getting those two bites down I threw in the towel, well, more like I threw the sandwich in the trash can.

When she followed the recipe things turned out much better.

 

[Iggy]

Makes you realize why the Injuns and the mountain men prized Buffler meat so much.

 

[vrd-vmd]

Cook it well

Parasites would be the biggest threat in all wild game . Tape worms, trichinosis and giardia all come to mind. Cooking the meat as you would following the old pork recommendations would protect you. I eat venison rare but every thing else is well cooked.
The Lower Alloways Creek fire dept in South Jersey used to have an annual Muskrat dinner. I remember the best part was the home made pies.
I think they still put it on.
http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/2011/01/muskrat_dinner_lower_alloways.html

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Go ahead and laugh-but Nutria is really pretty good. Smother them down or if they're young-roast them whole over a pit. Years back we had an annual "critterdinner" and one of the mainstays was a guy who always bar b qued whole nutria oger the pit. When I say whole I mean whole-head feet tail. It made for a nice presentation
Raccoon is ok but you have to know how to clean it.

 

[DeadAye]

I guess the most *exotic* things I've eaten were beaver and bobcat.
Don't care for beaver, but bobcat is really good. Probably 3rd after #1 Moose and #2 beef.
THE filthiest critter I've ever eaten is chicken....

 

[ladder13]

Have any of you eaten beaver, marmots, woodchucks, muskrats, etc. as food?

Uhhhh........NO

 

[DeathGrip]

Uhhhh........NO

How about Lemmings?

 

[woodsltc]

Have any of you eaten beaver, marmots, woodchucks, muskrats, etc. as food?

Beaver - Yes
Marmot - No
Woodchucks (we call 'em groundhogs here) - Yes
Muskrats - No

That's 50% based on your question....guess I'm half-pickey in what I'll eat.

Don

 

[ladder13]

How about Lemmings?

Broiled not fried

 

[Rule3]

Anything is edible if you have enough Ketchup!

 

[Sebago Son]

I grew up in a thrifty Adirondack Mountain Yankee family of trappers and hunters. We ate alot of what came out of the skinning shed. Generally not the carnivores per se like Bobcat, Mink, Coyote or Brush Wolf. But plenty of Beavers, Muskrats, Woodchuck, Bear, Venison, Moose, Ducks, Geese, Partridge, Pheasant and other normal game & wild fish.

I think that I prefer Rabbit best.

I wouldn't eat Skunk on a bet. I've tried Porcupine but only once. I'd eat it again if I had to, but watch out for the trematodes.

Some organ meats from a Moose or Deer are considered camp delicacies (heart, liver) but be very, very observant when preparing them for the table and always cook them well.

One last thing.... Beaver tail is a great natural laxative...

 

[Texas Star]

I grew up in a thrifty Adirondack Mountain Yankee family of trappers and hunters. We ate alot of what came out of the skinning shed. Generally not the carnivores per se like Bobcat, Mink, Coyote or Brush Wolf. But plenty of Beavers, Muskrats, Woodchuck, Bear, Venison, Moose, Ducks, Geese, Partridge, Pheasant and other normal game & wild fish.

I think that I prefer Rabbit best.

I wouldn't eat Skunk on a bet. I've tried Porcupine but only once. I'd eat it again if I had to, but watch out for the trematodes.

Some organ meats from a Moose or Deer are considered camp delicacies (heart, liver) but be very, very observant when preparing them for the table and always cook them well.

One last thing.... Beaver tail is a great natural laxative...

Great post! Thanks. I'd avoid skunk if only for the high liklihood of the musk getting me and for the possibility of rabies, of which skunks are a prime carrier.

I've read that frontiersmen didn't usually eat procupines in order to leave them for those really needing the meat. May have been in one of Bradford Angier's books. Porkies supposedly can be run down and knocked over with a club.
But you have to be very careful not to get the spines in you. Jim Corbett told pretty graphically what happened when a tiger got quills in it and had to turn to eating people.

 

[Sebago Son]

Porcupines are pretty slow moving with a weird halting, irregular gait. It is possible to overtake one on the ground, but they rarely are seen in daylight anyplace but up a tree. If there are any porcupines around, you'll find them in or near a willow tree. Just look for fresh cuttings on the ground.

I think quite possibly that a shovel full of sand has more sense than a porcupine. They are very distructive and were a real nuisance around my farm. My boys and I killed every one we could.

If you need to shoot one, be sure to kill it with your first round. If not they bury their claws into the bark of the tree and will hang there forever once they tense up. Through trial and error I found that a 12 gauge deer slug (or a .375 H&H) is best for this as it breaks them up and the pieces fall to the ground without too much delay...

People will say that they cannot 'throw' their quills. I'm here to tell you that's bunk. I shot one in the head with a .22 from my kitchen window that was ripping up one of my apple trees. He fell to the ground with a thud. I went back to doing what I was doing. Half an hour later I looked out and he was crawling across the door yard. I took the .22 and went out to finish him off. I walked up behind him to about 10 feet and put one in his brain pan, then called one of the boys to get a potato fork and put him in the compost hole. I never got within 10 feet of that pork-hog. Later that afternoon I looked down and there was a blood spot on my trousers. Sure enough a quill was busy digging itself into my thigh. Had a deuce of a time working it out with a sharp blade and a Leatherman tool...

 

[OFT II]

"Through trial and error I found that a 12 gauge deer slug (or a .375 H&H) is best for this as it breaks them up and the pieces fall to the ground without too much delay..."

Do they ever charge when wounded?

 

[OK Hog Shooter]

I've eaten Beaver, Muskrat, Woodchuck, Raccoon, pretty much all of them small critters.

A word of advice, many of them, expecially Beaver & Woodchuck, have a strong gamey taste that you have to deal with, usually through par boiling to start.

Now I know why we wuz bidding agin each other. We's kin!

Bein' an ol mountain man re-enactor, I have had the opportunity to try various critters, bear, beaver, mountain lion, rattlesnake, turtle etc. Some is good, some is wonderful, and some is better than starvin' but not much.

Another kindred soul!

During my trek through this life, to date, I've eaten more types of game that most civilized folks would probably gag on. I can tell you that it's hard to beat a well prepped buff or venison backstrap cooked over hot coals in a period camp.

Just remember what Cervantes said: "Hunger is the best sauce."

...and it is written: God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Genesis 1: 29

Blessings,
Hog