OK, so you've constructed the perfect deadfall trap and it works like a charm. When you go back the next day and check the trap, you discover the carcass of a good-sized raccoon. OK, but how do you know if the meat is safe to eat or not ? I mean, raccoons are known carriers of rabies and you don't want to eat rabid meat ! Also, the meat could be spoiled because meat spoils quickly in the great outdoors. I have a keen interest in knowing about this kind of stuff, and would appreciate hearing from folks who are in the know when it comes to hunting and trapping wild game. LW.

I hunt as often as I can; from small to large game my freezer is always stocked. For the smaller critters, these are some of the guidelines I try to follow:

If it is only a day old it will be good if the temperatures are not to hot. Being from Canada it usually doesn’t get that hot except the dead of summer.

Severe bloating of the carcass may indicate trouble. As well as a lot of flies.

Obvious signs of sickness (foam around the mouth) etc and I would not chance it.

The best advice is never to handle any game without good, strong latex gloves. The best indication that the meat has turned will be the smell when you cut into the flesh. The innards will stink anyway, but isolate a piece of the red meat, get close and give it a good smell. Trust me, if the meat is bad you will know. If you ever have ANY doubts as to the quality don’t take a chance on it.

It is best to check any traps in the early morning before the sun gets too high. any game caught should be still safe to eat. My advice is to check often so nothing will sit in a trap too long.

a lot of animals carry parasites etc, but when cooked properly it will be safe to eat. Try to avoid cross contamination and ensure to wash your knife very well before cutting anything else you may put in your mouth.

If using a deadfall trap, do not put so much weight as to totally crush to prey. If broken ribs puncture the innards (especially the stomach) then chances are that your kill will be no good to eat come morning. Ruptured guts ruin meat very fast, so even if you do it by accident while cleaning wash the goop off as quickly as possible. It’s Nice to have a water supply handy to wash to old blood and stuff off anyway, as this will keep the meat fresh on the trip home. On really hot days, a few disposable ice packs placed into your game bag with your critters will keep them nice and cool.

Hope this was some help.

I can't add much to that, other than learn what things like healthy livers and lungs look like. If they look funny, you want to basically incinerate it or use it for bait in place.

If there is a question, cook it HARD. And I mean cut it small, and boil it for an hour or so. Rabies is rare, but it is much less common than tulemeria, which can ruin your day.

I don't believe rabies can be transmitted from eating an animal infected with rabies, since the virus lives in the saliva of the animal and in usually transmitted via bite.

Any infectious disease gurus who know for sure?

Rabies can be transmitted via organ and tissue transplant, so I don't think that's correct, but I'm no guru.

Meat can be eaten for quite a while past when most people would discard it, if cooked properly. The guide lines Tarus listed are basicly what I was taoght and use in the field. I would add that before you throw tour kill away because it smells different than your used to remember wild game have a different smell than the beef, chicken, and pork you buy in the store, and game killed instantly will have a slightly different smell than one that has struggled or ran a distance before it dies. Even fresh domestic meats smell different that what you will find in most stores.

I've heard that you can tell for how long an animal's been dead simply by cutting off the animal's head and watching the blood flow. If there's a significant amount of blood flow after you cut off the animal's head, it's supposed to indicate that the animal hasn't been dead for too long. I wonder if there's any truth to this method. It could be a pile of BS for all I know. LW.

Cooking meat destroys the rabies virus. Freezing it does not. Cook any suspected meat thoroughly. Handle the carcass with extreme care if you believe it may be infected. Avoid exposing cutsless than 24 hours old and mucous membranes to any raw parts of the animal.

If you do not observe the animal prior to dispatching it, then assume it may be infected. It can still be consumed, but must be handled with care and cooked well done.

The virus lives not only in the animal's saliva, but in the nervous tissue surrounding the muscles and organs, the spinal cord and brain tissues. Sterilize utensils that have come in contact with the animal prior to re-use.

I don't believe that the rabies virus can survive after being cooked at a high enough temperature for a decent length of time.

But then again, maybe I'm wrong about that.

I'm not sure if there's a "field expedient" method for determining if the carcass was infected by a disease such as rabies or tuleremia, other than by simply taking note of the warning signs that Taurus brought up (foam at the mouth, bloating, horrible smell, etc.). I suppose that all you can do is to cook the meat thoroughly and then hope that the heat is going to kill whatever microscopic organisms may be lingering in the critter's carcass post mortem.

Cooking meat well done will destroy the rabies virus, and most other such infections.

One aspect of the training the Selous Scouts of South Africa go through is to cook and eat a baboon that's been dead and hanging in a tree for three days. Three days in the African sun has got to get that meat turned, but it is still edible after being boiled well. I understand that it cannot be recooked and eaten again, for there is a parasite of some sort that can survive such process.

Whatever a 3 day dead baboon tastes like, it's still gotta be better than the taste of that Armadillo I tried to eat, once...(shudders)