Growing up as a backwoods redneck in Pennsyltucky, I’ve eaten most of the wild animals. For years I ran a trapline, and it was amazing at all the things that find their way into your traps, including geese, ducks, fish, ......... (and occasionally the neighbor’s cats)
I would place a piece of field corn on the cob on the prongs of a conibear trap and catch geese.. All dark meat..
The only part of eating wild game I didn’t care for was spitting out the lead shot!
Groundhogs, squirrels, raccoons,and muskrats, were best prepared smoked. An old refrigerator with metal racks made an excellent smoker.
Never ate skunk, fox, mink, weasel ........
Just for the heck of it, I Googled muskrat recipes and this popped up. Too funny:
Can you eat a beaver?
Taking care of a beaver you’re planning to eat is important as it is with most game, to ensure the quality of the meat. Beaver are mainly caught in or near the water and are pretty much clean to begin with. Skinning them and the way you do it is important to have good tasting meat.
Yes, it’s very important to only eat clean beaver.