Whilst cycling along I found a dead rabbit by the roadside. It has just been whacked in the head, and seems otherwise clean. I found it early in the morning and it is not warm. I have brought it home and wondering if to eat it. Somewhere it is recommended to check if the eyes are milky. Well the rabbit doesn't seem to have much in the way of eyes left but what I assume are the eyes appear to be black. If the liver etc are free of spots do you think it will be ok to eat? I can always feed it to the dogs!
Found a rabbit
- Thread starter Biddlesby
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I personally wouldn't. What do you mean about not having much in the way of eyes left? Pecked out?
With any sort of road kill, you have to be 100% sure of the freshness! unless I saw the bunny hit I probably would not bother!
Nor would I feed it to my dog, incase of poisons/disease etc.
Nor would I feed it to my dog, incase of poisons/disease etc.
Biddlesby said:
My advice would be the same like the others gave you.
If in in doubt, leave it out.
Though you might practice your skinning techniques and use the fur, then at least the beastie has a use - rather than bury it ...
Good idea! I'll skin it and maybe make a pouch or something. You can guess what a future thread of mine will be about....
If I am skinning it with a view to use the hide do I have to be careful about which cuts to make. Better to cut at the belly rather than the back?
If I am skinning it with a view to use the hide do I have to be careful about which cuts to make. Better to cut at the belly rather than the back?
Biddlesby said:
Break the legs at the first joint and cut the skin around that point. Hold the rabbit by the hind legs when you make the incision into the belly and continue past the rib cage to the neck (pinch the belly skin and slide knife under the skin sharp edge up). When you have done that turn rabbit other way up and allow entrails to come clean from the cavity. You can then break through the diaphragm into the chest cavity and remove lights and heart, which along with the kidneys and "unblemished" liver could form part of your stew (but you're not eating it). Having paunched you can continue to skin the pelt. It is of course possible to skin without paunching, but if the guts decide to come free when your pulling the skin it can be a bit messy, so best to negate that possibility
To skin, slide a hand between the pelt and the flesh and ease the two apart in a peeling motion. Work over the back towards the hind legs. To remove the hind legs ease the flesh and pelt apart and push the severed joint in so it comes out like a finger out of a glove
. Remove other leg the same and gently pull pelt from remainder of flesh holding legs in one hand and pelt in the other. Treat the front legs the same as the rear and take pelt to the neck and remove with a sharp slice. You should have a clean pelt in one piece....If non of that makes sense then this might help
If thats no good try this method
you could skin the head too- i've never actually done it, but i have seen it done-you could have the head on the lid of the pouch like a sporran.
they used to use full( inc. head ) rabbit pelts to make blankets- as i understand it, the back feet of one pelt were threaded through the eye socket holes of the previous one and tied/ sewn together. Several were jouned togther that way untill a long line of joined pelts was formed, then many of the strips were sewn together.( i have no idea which country that originates from- could even be the uk- i just remember hearing it on a course i went on)
use the knife as little as possible or if your feeling adventurous, use a little flint flake- works surprisingly well.
they used to use full( inc. head ) rabbit pelts to make blankets- as i understand it, the back feet of one pelt were threaded through the eye socket holes of the previous one and tied/ sewn together. Several were jouned togther that way untill a long line of joined pelts was formed, then many of the strips were sewn together.( i have no idea which country that originates from- could even be the uk- i just remember hearing it on a course i went on)
use the knife as little as possible or if your feeling adventurous, use a little flint flake- works surprisingly well.
The rabbit looked nice and healthy inside and out, and even slightly warm on the inside, so we are boiling it up for the dogs.
I didn't do anything quite as ambitious as skinning the head, but I do have a nice rectangle of fur to play with. Cheers everybody!
I didn't do anything quite as ambitious as skinning the head, but I do have a nice rectangle of fur to play with. Cheers everybody!
I raise rabbits and I hang them by there hind legs to skin them. Once you cut around the ankles and inward to the tail you can pull the skin off like a shirt, then cut around the wrists and neck. If you want to preserve the skin try using salt. Remove as much of the flesh and fat from the skin, stretch it out on a piece of plywood, tack it down with some small nails, and salt it good. After about a week or two, once it is good and dry, wash it well in warm soapy water, let it dry to the point where it is still soft and rub some Neat's Foot oil into it. After a couple of days wash it again with some soapy water and let it dry. That's how I have done a few. Seems to work well.
Cheers all.
I've had trouble with the scraping though. I have got alot of the fat off, but I don't know where to stop. I was peeling away and I seem to have got back to hair folicles in some places. Do I just need to get rid of the really fatty stuff? All the little veins? Right back until I can peel/scrape no more?
I've had trouble with the scraping though. I have got alot of the fat off, but I don't know where to stop. I was peeling away and I seem to have got back to hair folicles in some places. Do I just need to get rid of the really fatty stuff? All the little veins? Right back until I can peel/scrape no more?
That's what I do. Just remove the big chunks. I have found that after they are dry and I wash them in soapy water that I can remove more of the meat and fat without damaging the skins. Seems to work better.
iv eaten loads of roadkill with no ill affects i normally cut the moldy bits off and cook the rest if your ok with it the maggots are better than the meat somtimes
There was a fella on the telly a while back who would eat all kindsa stuff he found dead on the road including cats, badgers what have you.
Strangely his wife hadn't left him?
Strangely his wife hadn't left him?
