Wild rabbits in Bavaria

I'm a bit bored, and a bit peckish, and there are loads of rabbits and hares about the place.

So, I quite fancy doing some trapping, but I have no idea if the local animals are ridden with some nasty disease, or if they are gonna be fine to eat. I reckon there must be somebody on TT who can fill in some info for me. Yes, I am aure there are probably German laws saying that I cannot do this, but I don't care much atall about the legality, just don't fancy getting sick.
Anyone done any trapping or hunting out here?

I have NEVER seen a wild rabbit here in Munich ( Ok I saw one in a cage that was Livid) there are however hundreds of Hare.

Yes you can eat Hare.. very tasty too. if I had to discribe what it tastes of... well... erm... Chicken?

As for them being diseased... Highly unlikely.

Let me know if you manage to catch one and I wil be round for tea!

G

If you want to eat tick and flea ridden hares, the by all means go for it.
You do know how to slughter an animal properly don't you? Performing that essential task incorrectly is about the only thing that could end up making you sick.

No mixing up of rabbits and hares, folks! The little critters in and around the Englischer Garten and other parks in Munich are all rabbits. For rabbits, use traps. Hares live in fields in the countryside round Munich. For hares, use lead shot. Both attempts are unlikely to go unnoticed and you'll get into trouble when using firearms illegaly or you'll get into trouble with the animal welfare act when butchering your trap-caught rabbit. A well-aimed road kill would be a good option, just make sure you don't squish'em too much. Well cooked the chances of contracting disease are minimal, so the hygiene standards of your kitchen may be the limiting factor.

No really dodgy diseases, just check the kill for the usual parisitic infestations.
Rabbits are a waste of time though, a hare has got more meat.

On a completely unrelated note, isn't it mad the way a crossbow makes so little noise ?

What is not edible?. (This was a BBC programme: Cooking in the Danger Zone.)

Just get a dog that eats cats , lots of them around here.

Mmmmmm, rabbit. Will be fine as long as it doesn't have myxomatosis which, lets face it, is pretty easy to spot. Kill it quickly - they have a really eerie, piercing, child-like scream and you don't want the neighbours thinking you've got Gary Glitter round for tea.

You can get rabbits in most decent pet shops. You can at least pick and chose there.

Oh good call SiM , get the baby rabbits cos according to my gf "They're bones are rather nice and crunchy as they've not yet fully developed yet".

that makes me want to vomit.

What do you recommend for a sauce?

Just make sure you use the right points:

Australians

We had dinner at a local country place and the "special" was rabbit.

Took over an hour to get our food, and we were the only ones in the rest., except for a few beer swilling Bavarians.

I am thinking he went out and killed a rabbit once we ordered it.

Well all the wait did not make for a gastronomic delight...it was awful.

Good luck D.R.

Maybe it was Dachhase ?

Rabbit is an acquired taste. I have had it prepared only two ways that I liked and the rest were horrible to say the least.
I grew up eating Cockeyed Stew (a very southern delicacy). It had everything in it including deer, rabbit and squirrel. Damn tasty it was.
The other way was prepared here in Germany. Not sure how it was done, but it was tender and no longer tasted gamey. My father in law prepared it and so maybe I should ask him for the recipe.

Pile-up potluck or roadkill ragout ?

Rabbit: Soybeans, a combine harvester and a shotgun.
Squirrel: Damn squirrels are eathing the pecans again and a shotgun.
Deer: Cabin, riverbottom and a 30-30 (watch out for the cotton-mouths).

I'm not a huge rabbit fan really, but if they are free, then why not. I've never eaten rabbit in Germany apart from a wee nosh of some rabbit that Katrina ordered in some Spanish restaurant somewhere in town (Botega Dali maybe), and it was absolutely lush.

They're only free if you don't get caught, Don.