The "Is it safe to eat a squirrel?" thread got me thinking. We don't have any squirrels around here but there are TONS of prairie dogs. In our small town I think rabbit and prairie dog would be the SHTF mainstay of most "urban" hunters. I know they can carry plague (like most rodents), but I'm wondering if propery cooked would they pose a health risk?

Serious question that I hope I never have to find out the answer to on a firsthand basis. Thanks in advance.

If the animal you shoot is healthy it will be good to eat. Prarie Dogs should tatse somewhat like squirrel. I'd give it a go.

 

if you cook anything long enuff you can eat it

 

All mammals are edible,some just taste better than others. Unless it is sick it should be fine. TP

 

I'de cook it to perfection and eat it. Sure they have been eaten, and enjoyed. I even saw a show about it once.:thumb:

 

All wild animals have different bacteria in their bodies, then a domesticated animal that has had shots for several different kind of ailments. Having said that, after you have cleaned and cooked this animal properly, you might become ill eatting a wild animal but it would be an illness from your body trying to adjust to this kind of food.

Like some people have a hard time adjusting to spring water after city water. Or some people experience altitude sickness because they have gone from a low altitude to a high altitude.

Some times a new experience brings on a negative reaction in the body.

 

Yeah! Like I Live in the Mountains, in Vermont, and have three Cold Water Springs on my Property. I eat Squirrels, Snakes, Gound Hogs,ie; Woodchuck, White Tail Deer, Native Vegetation and Such.:thumb:
Just Cook the crap out of Stuff you are unsure of. Most Organisms you will encounter on Earth are easily broken down into Carbon.

 

Prairie Dogs are very susceptible to bubonic plague

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/plague/qa.htm

Bon Appetit!

 

Prarie dogs are suseptable to plague, but they quickly die from it. However, you need to be very careful to not get any of their fleas or ticks on you, that will carry the plague to you faster than eating a well-cooked P-dog will.
As mentioned, all furry critters are edible. That just means that if you cook them well, you can eat them and get some nourishment and they won't make you sick. It don't necessarily mean they taste good. P-dogs are just rodents, like squirrel, rabbit, guinea pigs, etc. and they pretty much all taste alike. A little bottle of hot sauce, or squeeze packet of slasa helps a lot sometimes.

 

It's the fleas that they carry that are the real worry. The meat will be safe to eat after cooking, but you could easily contract a disease if one of their fleas bite you. Take precautions.

 

I saw an article about ground squirrels closing a national park becuase they carry the plague but not Prarie Dogs....2 different animals. The flees dont have the disease they they transmit it with their bite. Again if the animal is healthy you should be able to cook it well and eat it. If it is not healthy don't mess with it.

 

I've never ate one. However when the SHTF the only mammal I wont kill cook and eat is Human.

 

I think this is a quote from a diary found at the Donner Party camp.

 

Dunno.

how long ago did you run it over with the truck?

:

 

Just a question. What types of precautions would a person take to avoid fleas or ticks when you are skinning an animal? This could apply to all mammals. Thanks.

 

Interesting question, and I would like to hear some thoughts on it.

I have killed, gutted, transported and eaten deer, antelope, elk, ducks, geese, pheasant, chuckar, quail, and rabbits and never thought twice about taking any precautions in regards to ticks and fleas.

Is there something unique about squirrels and prairie dogs that would warrant extra care when handling them?

 

Nothing unique, fleas and ticks can inhabit any mammal. I nearly always find ticks on elk and deer while field dressing them. also rabbits, squirrels and other game.
I think the best way to avoid fleas and ticks is to field dress the animal very quickly and get rid of the pelt. An alternative is to let the animal lie for a few hours and cool some, then drag it off several yards and dress it out. Reason for these procedures is that fleas and ticks are VERY perceptive of the temperature of their host. Immediately the host begins to cool, even by a degree or two, they start to leave and look for greener pastures. If you're handy, they'll as likely get on you as anything else.
Small animals, like rabbits, I usually dress immediately and get rid of hitchhikers with the skin. Large animals, like elk, I usually let lay for a couple hours, then drag them off several yards and dress them out. I've found a flea or two on me afterwards, but never a problem, considering how many animals I've dressed out over the years.

 

The "Is it safe to eat a squirrel?" thread got me thinking. We don't have any squirrels around here but there are TONS of prairie dogs. In our small town I think rabbit and prairie dog would be the SHTF mainstay of most "urban" hunters. I know they can carry plague (like most rodents), but I'm wondering if propery cooked would they pose a health risk?

Serious question that I hope I never have to find out the answer to on a firsthand basis. Thanks in advance.

Just FYI, rabbits aren't rodents. Check Wikipedia.

 

That is a more modern distinction, but I still won't eat rabbit, rodent or not, biblically they are "unclean" and practically they carry too many diseases in wild. If I'll die if I don't eat a rabbit, I might, but that is where it stops. No rats, no dogs, no cats, no birds of prey... On my remote ranch we have gigantic wild hares that would feed a family several days, but it would take an extreme emergency for us to do so. PS - no prairie dog either, they carry plague. Hantavirus is a concern where I am too.

 

Hi Shery and welcome to the forum!

Just so you are aware, the post you answered is 11 years old. If you look in the upper left hand corner, you'll see the date of the last post.

And that particular poster hasn't been on the forum since 2016. So dont get discouraged when they dont respond.

 

There was an incident about 30 years back in the Big Horn Mtns where a plague infected bobcat wandered into camp and was shot. The man who skinned it died of the 'Black Death' and the other 2 were treated/survived. Prairie dogs are well documented to carry the plague (I know the fleas, etc) out here in WY. I think the risk out weighs the minute amount of meat available. Prairie dog towns are quite large and tromping around one to get a little bit of meat from the 'healthy ones' that you shot... yeah, how do you know that they were healthy and what about his neighbor in the next hole you didn't see???

 

Cook them well

 

Wear latex gloves
keep your work area clean/sanatized
Discard organs/offal
Clean again and chill-or
Cook to 165F internal
that "should" eliminate 99.9% of the problems
it won't do anything for toxic chemicals,like mercury in fish
when in doubt-throw it out works in normal times
its a gamble in survival,will you die if you eat it..will you die if you don"t?

 

A wolf took care of one of the prairie dog colonies a few years ago. The mice carry the plauge here some years . Rancher probably got rid of the wolf.

 

I read once that certain Native tribes ate them occasionally and described the flavor as "earthy" I am pretty sure that means dirt...

 

Shoot them just because they’re nasty little blighters and they wreck a piece of land. Gophers too.

 

A friend of mine asked me once if I knew what the little “K” on a jar of food was. Means kosher, I guess.

 

Yes the K is for Kosher. You will also find some foods marked with a U inside a circle that means the same.

 

People is Africa will eat anything. On one of the programs of Expedition Unknown with Josh Gates in Africa he joined the Masai tribe for a hunt. In the end of the day they only manage to hunt one Caracal. That is their food for the next day. So yes, when SHTF and no food Prairie dog, mountain lion, donkey, horse, house cat, dog and mice will have to do.

 

The "Is it safe to eat a squirrel?" thread got me thinking. We don't have any squirrels around here but there are TONS of prairie dogs. In our small town I think rabbit and prairie dog would be the SHTF mainstay of most "urban" hunters. I know they can carry plague (like most rodents), but I'm wondering if propery cooked would they pose a health risk?

Serious question that I hope I never have to find out the answer to on a firsthand basis. Thanks in advance.

There are a variety of similar meats around the world, esp in SA, so i would assume as long as animal wasn't sick its fine.

 

@Uziel, name change @.310986?

 

Such a discussion would probably be more appropriate here: https://www.survivalistboards.com/forums/religious-discussion.8/

I am NOT a mod.