274 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



and the offensive and misleading designation rat avoided, 

 it might be easier for the public to become educated to 

 make more use of this wholesome meat. 



At several of the trapping camps Vernon Bailey visited 

 during his many surveys of the muskrat marshlands, musk- 

 rats were dressed and cooked in an endeavor to get the 

 trappers, many of whom were complaining of a lack of 

 fresh food, especially meats, to eat the flesh. As savory as 

 the meat smelled when it was sizzling in the pan, on a cold, 

 frosty morning, the trappers declined the feast until they 

 watched the "queer" scientist devour the meal with gusto. 

 Then they would gingerly try a piece. 



It was much easier to get others than trappers to eat 

 the muskrats so prepared, although the trappers, to a man, 

 were agreed that this little animal was the most cleanly an- 

 imal in their food habits and that there was, really, no good 

 reason for not eating the meat — but ! 



A few of the trappers who did eat the muskrat meals 

 declared that the meal was delicious and far superior to 

 rabbit and squirrel, which is a fact, as the meat is not unlike 

 some of the dark-meated ducks and just as tender and well- 

 flavored when properly cooked. 



Vernon Bailey gives the following directions for pre- 

 paring and cooking the muskrat : 



The usual method of skinning the muskrats and leaving 

 a strip of the skin across the back edge of the belly does not 

 disturb the musk glands, which lie at the sides of the penis, 

 and the carcass then can be hung up by the head, and this 

 strip of skin, with the musk glands and the entrails re- 

 moved and the feet, tail and head cut off. Then it is ready 

 for market or for cooking. There is about a pound to a 

 pound and a half of solid meat on the bones of one full- 

 grown animal. 



For cooking in the* simplest way, the meat should be 

 cut in pieces, consisting of hams, shoulders and short sec- 

 tions of the back. The neck and head also have consider- 

 able thick and excellent meat. The ribs contain little meat, 

 and are generally thrown away. The liver is large and 

 healthy, and especially delicious, if the gall bladder is care- 

 fully removed. 





