Post by Icarus on Mar 24, 2008 11:31:38 GMT -5
Field Dressing Rabbits:
Understand that supermarket meat is well-tested and ready for human consumption. The same is not true of meat from animals you kill. On the contrary they can and often do carry diseases and parasites.
Getting a clean shot is the most important step in any field dressing. With a messy kill internal organs can mix together, hair and parasites can enter the carcass and, depending on your weapon, you may not have much rabbit left to eat.
Understand the dangers of gutting a rabbit incorrectly. Blood born diseases and parasites, along with spoiled food are some of the dangers of not field dressing or gutting incorrectly. Some of these dangers include:
Warbles a type of common parasite found in most wild animals. Warbles live under the skin, but outside of the 'meat' and are planted by Bot flies. They can infect humans, cattle, sheep and squirrels.
Tularemia or Rabbit fever is a decreasing but serious disease carried through the blood and the air that attacks the internal organs. Humans are often infected by a tick bite or through handling an infected animal. Ingesting infected water, soil, or food can also cause infection. Tularemia can be acquired by inhalation; hunters are at a higher risk for this disease because of the potential of inhaling the bacteria during the skinning process. Always carefully inspect the liver of your rabbit for white, yellow or any other spotting which can indicate Tularemia. If you even suspect you see spots, discard the carcass right away.
Field dress your rabbit
Always field dress your rabbit immediately to greatly reduce your risks.
Keep everything clean.
Do not use dirty water.
Keep the carcass away from mud, dirt, twigs, leaves or other contaminants.
Use a clean stick to hold the carcass open.
Use a clean knife.
Wear thick latex or thick rubber gloves.
Remove the head and feet of your rabbit, cutting at the ankles.
Holding the back skin of the rabbit with your fingers make a cut through the skin and over the back, but not into the meat.
Peel back the skin of the rabbit, or hide, in both directions with your fingers.
Take care to not let the fur or hide touch the carcass.
Remove the complete skin of the animal, including the tail.
Remove the complete entrails of the rabbit using one of these methods:
Remove the entrails by hand.
Cut open the abdomen, reach inside and remove all internal organs.
Remove the entrails by squeezing.
Apply pressure from the bottom of the rib cage while moving your hand down to the rabbit's anus.
Repeat this process until you can feel the entrails loosen.
Be careful not to burst the bowel or intestine. Doing so will spoil your meat.
Spread your legs, and hold the rabbit by the front legs.
With the rabbit facing you, flip the rabbit down with moderate pressure.
Don't flip the carcass around too hard, or you might be wearing a hat of rabbit entrails.
The entrails will exit the rabbit through his anus.
Let the body hang and cool down for a little while. You can also wash it. The carcass should be maintained at a temperature not exceeding 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit)
Cover the carcass and hide in salt.
Prepare the meat for consumption
Understand that processed and packaged meat goes through extensive testing to make sure it is safe for public consumption. Wild game that you have killed obviously does not go through such a process and therefore special precautions are called for:
Always wash your hands before preparing food and keep raw meat away from other food.
Thaw your meat in the refrigerator or microwave, not on the kitchen counter.
Use a meat thermometer to check that it is cooked all the way through.
Clean the thermometer after each use.
Cook any meat you kill to well done. The department of health suggests indicates a temperature of 82 degrees Celsius (180 degrees Fahrenheit); or higher and the use of a meat thermometer.
TIPS:
Cold weather may reduce the number of parasites, but will not get rid of them completely.
The best time to hunt rabbits is early in the morning and just before sunset, when they are most active.
In some municipalities it is illegal to leave entrails in nature, check your local laws to know for sure.
Some people dip the rabbit in water to reduce the risk of fur contacting the meat.
WARNINGS:
Do not allow your dog to eat the entrails -- they could poison your dog.
Tularemia is one of the most infective bacteria known; fewer than ten organisms can cause disease leading to severe illness in humans. The course of disease involves spread of the organism to multiple organ systems, including the lungs, liver, spleen, and lymphatic system. The course of disease is similar regardless of the route of exposure. Mortality in untreated (pre-antibiotic-era) patients has been as high as 50% in the pneumoniac and typhoidal forms of the disease, and even with antibiotics the fatality rate is as high as 2%. The exact cause of death is unclear, but it is thought be a combination of multiple organ system failures. In a potential aerosol form the disease is considered a possible bioterrorist agent. Persons who inhale an infectious aerosol would likely experience severe respiratory illness departments.
It is illegal to hunt rabbit out of season. Check your local laws to make sure you only hunt in season.
You risk your health and the health of your loved ones when you do not thoroughly cook meat.
From Wikihow
Understand that supermarket meat is well-tested and ready for human consumption. The same is not true of meat from animals you kill. On the contrary they can and often do carry diseases and parasites.
Getting a clean shot is the most important step in any field dressing. With a messy kill internal organs can mix together, hair and parasites can enter the carcass and, depending on your weapon, you may not have much rabbit left to eat.
Understand the dangers of gutting a rabbit incorrectly. Blood born diseases and parasites, along with spoiled food are some of the dangers of not field dressing or gutting incorrectly. Some of these dangers include:
Warbles a type of common parasite found in most wild animals. Warbles live under the skin, but outside of the 'meat' and are planted by Bot flies. They can infect humans, cattle, sheep and squirrels.
Tularemia or Rabbit fever is a decreasing but serious disease carried through the blood and the air that attacks the internal organs. Humans are often infected by a tick bite or through handling an infected animal. Ingesting infected water, soil, or food can also cause infection. Tularemia can be acquired by inhalation; hunters are at a higher risk for this disease because of the potential of inhaling the bacteria during the skinning process. Always carefully inspect the liver of your rabbit for white, yellow or any other spotting which can indicate Tularemia. If you even suspect you see spots, discard the carcass right away.
Field dress your rabbit
Always field dress your rabbit immediately to greatly reduce your risks.
Keep everything clean.
Do not use dirty water.
Keep the carcass away from mud, dirt, twigs, leaves or other contaminants.
Use a clean stick to hold the carcass open.
Use a clean knife.
Wear thick latex or thick rubber gloves.
Remove the head and feet of your rabbit, cutting at the ankles.
Holding the back skin of the rabbit with your fingers make a cut through the skin and over the back, but not into the meat.
Peel back the skin of the rabbit, or hide, in both directions with your fingers.
Take care to not let the fur or hide touch the carcass.
Remove the complete skin of the animal, including the tail.
Remove the complete entrails of the rabbit using one of these methods:
Remove the entrails by hand.
Cut open the abdomen, reach inside and remove all internal organs.
Remove the entrails by squeezing.
Apply pressure from the bottom of the rib cage while moving your hand down to the rabbit's anus.
Repeat this process until you can feel the entrails loosen.
Be careful not to burst the bowel or intestine. Doing so will spoil your meat.
Spread your legs, and hold the rabbit by the front legs.
With the rabbit facing you, flip the rabbit down with moderate pressure.
Don't flip the carcass around too hard, or you might be wearing a hat of rabbit entrails.
The entrails will exit the rabbit through his anus.
Let the body hang and cool down for a little while. You can also wash it. The carcass should be maintained at a temperature not exceeding 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit)
Cover the carcass and hide in salt.
Prepare the meat for consumption
Understand that processed and packaged meat goes through extensive testing to make sure it is safe for public consumption. Wild game that you have killed obviously does not go through such a process and therefore special precautions are called for:
Always wash your hands before preparing food and keep raw meat away from other food.
Thaw your meat in the refrigerator or microwave, not on the kitchen counter.
Use a meat thermometer to check that it is cooked all the way through.
Clean the thermometer after each use.
Cook any meat you kill to well done. The department of health suggests indicates a temperature of 82 degrees Celsius (180 degrees Fahrenheit); or higher and the use of a meat thermometer.
TIPS:
Cold weather may reduce the number of parasites, but will not get rid of them completely.
The best time to hunt rabbits is early in the morning and just before sunset, when they are most active.
In some municipalities it is illegal to leave entrails in nature, check your local laws to know for sure.
Some people dip the rabbit in water to reduce the risk of fur contacting the meat.
WARNINGS:
Do not allow your dog to eat the entrails -- they could poison your dog.
Tularemia is one of the most infective bacteria known; fewer than ten organisms can cause disease leading to severe illness in humans. The course of disease involves spread of the organism to multiple organ systems, including the lungs, liver, spleen, and lymphatic system. The course of disease is similar regardless of the route of exposure. Mortality in untreated (pre-antibiotic-era) patients has been as high as 50% in the pneumoniac and typhoidal forms of the disease, and even with antibiotics the fatality rate is as high as 2%. The exact cause of death is unclear, but it is thought be a combination of multiple organ system failures. In a potential aerosol form the disease is considered a possible bioterrorist agent. Persons who inhale an infectious aerosol would likely experience severe respiratory illness departments.
It is illegal to hunt rabbit out of season. Check your local laws to make sure you only hunt in season.
You risk your health and the health of your loved ones when you do not thoroughly cook meat.
From Wikihow