Rabbit Starvation

[toga_dan]

The myth:
Indians ate the whole rabbit- meat, eyeballs, thyroid, etc ; whitey the trapper ate only rabbit muscle.  Whitey died of malnutrition, not because of too few calories, but because he missed the nutrients in spleen, liver + what not. Could whitey the trapper have survived if he had overcome his squeamishness and cultural bias?

[twinlamps]

This may need to be fleshed out a bit more??

Someone had to say it. 

[Wolfyhound]

Actually, it's supposed to be that you would starve on rabbit alone because there's almost NO fat on a rabbit(wild rabbit, of course).  Not because you weren't eating the eyeballs or pancreas.

Most trappers and pioneers did indeed eat the organs of game animals they ate.  Only modern folks waste most of the animals.

[JMenning]

I agree with wolfy.  Not only with the fact that modern hunters wasteful, but also with the part about wild rabbit meat not having much (if any) fat. While there is some in the organs, the muscle itself is very lean.  Just about the leanest meat you can get.  While it does have nutrients that you need, you do need quite a bit of fat for the body to work correctly.  That is the basis of "Rabbit Starvation"

[toga_dan]

From my experience with brain tanning, I remember that the brain is mostly fat. Too good not to eat?

" it is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possesion of brains must be in want of more brains"
From Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

[Wolfyhound]

You have to remember that the brain and organs in a rabbit are VERY small also.  THe majority of food from a wild rabbit will be lean muscle.  No fat, even if you factor in brain or organs, it's such a extremely low percentage overall that it practically doesn't count.  You aren't getting a cup of brains to eat with a bunny.

[toga_dan]

Yeah, I suppose rabbits wont be members of Mensa anytime soon.

You guys seem to know this subject better than I. What do you think of the wiki ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_Starvation

I think I knew that meat is converted to urea and ammonia, but I still haven't found what fat metabolizes to.

[Typical_08]

It would also have to do with the type of rabbit wouldn't it? ya know, some rabbits have to deal with long harsh winters, so they need a layer of fat to survive.

And after a little research.

There are several health issues associated with the use of rabbits for meat, one of which is Tularemia or Rabbit Fever. Another is so-called rabbit starvation, due most likely to essential fatty acid deficiencies in rabbit meat and synthesis limitations in human beings.

[JMenning]

Typical, that is right.  In a survival situation, rabbit is good to keep you going for a bit. Just don't base your diet on them. While they are somewhat harder to get your hands on, they do serve to provide protein to help keep your muscles strong.  There is more to the diet that you should include, but as we are talking about rabbits, I will leave it at that.

Also, there are a lot of health concerns that come from rabbit.  For instance, I wouldn't even consider taking a rabbit out here where I live, even in a survival situation.  There are just too many safety concerns with the rabbit out here.

Dan, the wiki article that you linked is essentially stating the same thing that we have been saying.  Yes, you can eat rabbit to survive, but it takes a lot. If rabbit is used as a supplement to other foods that you have it will help. Roots, berries, vegetation, birds, even trail mix that you may have with you will give you more than the rabbit.  I say trail mix simply because I always keep mix in my pack, just so that I know I will have something to eat with me.

[Wyoming Cowboy]

We eat winter rabbits here a lot.  Summer rabbits are too risky with what they carry (fleas) and the diseases that we can catch.  Plague is actually still a problem and every year, a few Wyoming hunters catch it.  Usually from foxes but rabbits are known to carry the same fleas.

The same thing goes for fish.  If you eat ONLY fish meat, you will not get the nutrients that you need.  Way too lean.  What a lot of the outdoor folks here (myself included) do is to carry some extremely fat laden food with them.  I carry Spam and Vienna Sausages.  HUGE fat content.  Couple a little spam with some rabbit or fish and you have a great high protein, high caloric intake.  Make some pine needle tea (boil pine needles) and get your vitamin C and you are ready to go.  Rainbow trout tongues are also a good source of calories.  More fat than lean muscle but not as good as brains.

If you do not have you Spam or Vienna sausages, Squirrel brains are excellent.  They are large in comparison to their body size and are very fatty.  Squirrels can be had here to anybody who can set a snare or shoot halfway decent.

If you want the ultimate in high caloric/fat brains, eat beaver brains  (<---- Had to be careful there  ).  It is EXTREMELY calorie laden.  It is greasy to the max to ,YUCK!!!  Folks use them to tan leather here.  And around here in the mountain, beavers are easy to catch.

So there you go,  Your outdoor survival message from Wyoming  

WC

[Bootstrap Bill]

Got any recipes for beaver brains?

[Wyoming Cowboy]

Got any recipes for beaver brains?

Not boiled!!!  Tastes terrible.

Sliced and fried is the best.  Just like cow brains (I grew up on a ranch, Lots o cow brains)


WC

[Typical_08]

MMMMM Head chesse.

If you eat ONLY fish meat, you will not get the nutrients that you need.

Yup. We are omnivores. We need to eat a little bit of everything pretty much.

[Bootstrap Bill]

Potluck anyone?