Is it safe to eat a raccoon that has Rabies?

Question

and how many scent glands are there? where are they at? do i just cut them off

I shot a big one this morning out of my garden and i dont want to waste it. im not sure if it has rabies.

Answer 1

Do you have any reason to suspect it of having rabies? If it has no symptoms and there isn't an unusual problem with animals in your area having rabies, it is as safe to eat as any other wild animal.

I have eaten raccoon and my personal preference is to BBQ them. To my taste, the meat tasts slightly sweet and just does not suit my personal palate. It is not a "wild" taste nor an offensive taste but I just don't praticularly care for it. Many others think it tastes just fine when cooked in a manner similar to a pot roast or fried if it is young and tender. When they are BBQd, the slight sweet taste is covered by the flavor of the BBQ sauce and the resulting meat is very tasty.

As for dressing out the raccoon, I just remove the entrails and skin it the same as any animal. Almost all wild animals have scent glands but they have never presented a problem for me when dressing out a raccoon. Deer have tarsal glands located on their hocks that I do make it a point to remove before dressing the deer. I carry a second knife to remove them. I then use a different knife to do the rest of the dressing and skinning so I do not get any of the stuff from the tarsal gland on the meat.

I think it is important to wear surgical gloves when dressing out wild game because it keeps your hands clean. I carry at least two pairs and change them after removing any scent glands. I then put on a clean pair to finish dressing the animal.

Answer 2

How would you know it had rabies?* Unless you take it to a Vet & he has an analysis done on it to determine that it is infected.* If you have any doubts about eating it & you are not going to take it to a Vet, then don't eat it.* I believe all the Vet would need to have to test it, would be the raccoons head.*

Answer 3

Well no its not safe to eat a raccoon with rabies. Why would you infect yourself on purpose?

Answer 4

It's not worth taking the risk of eating it. If in fact it is rabid, the disease can be transmitted to you simply by touching/handling the Raccoon's carcass to begin with.
That's Russian roulette as far as this situation is concerned. Just bury it and wear gloves........

Answer 5

I would think that eating any animal infected with rabies would be a generally bad idea.

Answer 6

Don't ever eat an animal you don't know how to properly clean. It's also never a good idea to eat a diseased animal. There is a lot of bacteria inside certain organs, and if you knick them it will ruin the meat. You will get very sick and possibly die, if you eat meat improperly handled.

Answer 7

Well even though raccoon is a very tasty meat, I don't think I would eat any infected animal.

Answer 8

I have not heard of anyone contracting rabies from eating coon. Undercooked coon can cause ringworm or trichnosis to infect humans. People have been eating coon for hundreds of years, but if it was sickly looking, maingy or aggressive I'd think twice about eating it. Country coon only for me!

Answer 9

Rabies is a serious virus. It can and will kill you. It has the same affects as it would on any animal. Don't do it. Not to mention all the stuff it gets into.

Answer 10

The risk is too high.. If the coon was healthy and not rabid, you still have to take a lot of precautions because of parasitic organisms that racoons carry. Rabid animals for consumption is a definite NOT on my life.