# Rabbit Starvation: What Our Forefather's knew



## itstimetobunker (May 17, 2020)

Hi All! I was once a preparedness/survival blog writer. Because of the uncertain times we are currently living through, I've dusted off articles that might be of use. The subject of "Rabbit Starvation" is at the top of the list because it isn't discussed often enough--rather, it has been lost along with so much our forefathers were aware of, but seems to have been forgotten. I have shortened the original article--requirements at the time of writing was 1,500 words or longer! 

So here goes . . . and please don't shoot the messenger! 

A diet consisting of only lean meats can lead to malnutrition accompanied by the following symptoms: diarrhea, fatigue/weakness, headache, low blood pressure and low heart rate.
The human liver can metabolize between 285 to 365 grams of protein each day and the kidneys can become overloaded when having to process large amounts of a byproduct of protein cannibalism called urea from the bloodstream. Exceeding the protein limit of what the human body is able to process robs the body of the ability to maintain energy balance UNLESS including fat or carbohydrates in the diet.

Eating only lean meat (and too much protein) has been shown to lead to death in a few weeks. Luckily, storing foods high in fat will combat Rabbit Starvation. Be sure to stock a selection of foods that will provide fats to your diet. When putting aside seed for gardening (we should all be doing this in case food storage runs out), make sure to include corn seed and whole grains that offer the fat we need in our diets.

Don't think it could happen? Consider a time when people must forage for food, competing with wildlife for nourishment--grains, berries, and other wild-growing edibles. As with humans, food scarcity will burn fat reserves in animals, which are burned in order for them to survive. Next, an animal’s body will begin to cannibalize muscle mass. The final result of long-term food sacristy will leave an undernourished animal with lean meat reserves. Lean meat leads to Rabbit starvation, or if you prefer, Protein Poisoning.

No matter how healthy we strive to be, the kicker is that our diets must also include fats. 60 Grams per day to be exact. This is the reason why food storage plans often suggest storing canned fish like tuna fish and sardines that are packed in oil rather than water. Likewise, items like peanut butter, mayonnaise, virgin olive oil, coconut oil, corn, whole grains, cheese, milk, eggs, chocolate, brown rice, nuts, and freeze-dried and canned meats are popular food items to include in a long-term food storage plan because they provide the necessary fats and calories we need to stay healthy.

Nutrition and calories will be especially important during a crisis when our activity levels increase by necessity. We will need to haul water, hand wash laundry, fill tubs for bathing and general clean-up, chop wood, cook our meals over a camp fire, camp stove, or a wood cook stove, patrol our property, hunt, fish, garden, preserve food, and do activities that will require walking once the gas tank runs dry…and stays dry. All of these activities will burn a large amount of calories that must be replaced to avoid a debilitating weight loss that will leave us weak and unable to perform the many chores necessary for survival.

If our storage shelves are stocked with a variety of foods that contain the necessary fat requirement, and our plans for a garden includes things like corn and whole grains, we’ll fare much better than if our only emergency food plan involves wild rabbit or other game that may be too lean to keep us healthy.


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

That's why you should raise guinea pigs. Like I've posted in the past.

https://modernfarmer.com/2015/12/cuy/


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

Chipper said:


> That's why you should raise guinea pigs. Like I've posted in the past.
> 
> https://modernfarmer.com/2015/12/cuy/


Chickens


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

Chipper said:


> That's why you should raise guinea pigs. Like I've posted in the past.
> 
> https://modernfarmer.com/2015/12/cuy/


Eating my girls' pets? :devil:


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

Annie said:


> Eating my girls' pets? :devil:


Lewis and Clark became fond of dog and horse meat on the Corps of Discovery expedition. To the point favored of elk.


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## itstimetobunker (May 17, 2020)

Annie said:


> Eating my girls' pets? :devil:


I REALLY needed a laugh this morning. Thank You : )


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

Another option is get a fishing pole. Most fish skin on has enough fat.


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## jimcosta (Jun 11, 2017)

If you are planning on *dehydrated survival foods* I suggest that you add your own fat to it.

*Armour Lard* is animal based whereas other brands are vegetable fat. Stock up on several cans of the lard for flavoring and the fat needed, especially in the winter.


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## itstimetobunker (May 17, 2020)

That's a fact! Have been storing cooking oil- put aside since 2009 and still still good--out of sunlight and fairly cool conditions. Fried up, fish is delicious!


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

Annie said:


> Eating my girls' pets? :devil:


Eat the hen, and you're hungry again soon.
Let her lay, and she'll feed you for years. Good protein.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

rice paddy daddy said:


> Eat the hen, and you're hungry again soon.
> Let her lay, and she'll feed you for years. Good protein.


Besides protein, a good amount of fat in eggs too.

Eat the capons.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

Good amount of fat in nuts. You can take acorns and leach the tannins out of them and then they are quite edible. 

Take the acorns and shell them, break up a bit, then put them in a clear stream for a day or two inside a mesh bag


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Thats why we like possum occasionally. Too much protein is the culprit behind most of our current chronic diseases. People are better to stay on the verge of starvation. Good point. I am an old boy scout.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

It probably wouldn't hurt me to go on a 2 week diet of rabbit...lain:


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

bigwheel said:


> Thats why we like possum occasionally. Too much protein is the culprit behind most of our current chronic diseases. People are better to stay on the verge of starvation. Good point. I am an old boy scout.


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## SEOhioPrepper (Mar 8, 2020)

How did the Mountain Men do it in the 1800's ?? They ate a strict diet of meat daily, about 6 pounds a day for each Mountain Man according to all the first person documentations they left for us to read. The meat consisted mostly of buffalo and beaver. Vegetables were non existant in the mountains and on the plains. They never suffered any ill effects of an all meat diet all winter long. What was different with them ??
SEOhioprepper


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

SEOhioPrepper said:


> How did the Mountain Men do it in the 1800's ?? They ate a strict diet of meat daily, about 6 pounds a day for each Mountain Man according to all the first person documentations they left for us to read. The meat consisted mostly of buffalo and beaver. Vegetables were non existant in the mountains and on the plains. They never suffered any ill effects of an all meat diet all winter long. What was different with them ??
> SEOhioprepper


Read the Lewis and Clark journals. They all ate vegetables. The Indians from Missouri to Oregon.

Most people who starve are surrounded by food.

https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Slippy said:


> It probably wouldn't hurt me to go on a 2 week diet of rabbit...lain:


You thinking of playboy bunnies young man?


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

bigwheel said:


> You thinking of playboy bunnies young man?


Is that like , eat a beaver, save a tree?


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

SEOhioPrepper said:


> How did the Mountain Men do it in the 1800's ?? They ate a strict diet of meat daily, about 6 pounds a day for each Mountain Man according to all the first person documentations they left for us to read. The meat consisted mostly of buffalo and beaver. Vegetables were non existant in the mountains and on the plains. They never suffered any ill effects of an all meat diet all winter long. What was different with them ??
> SEOhioprepper


wapato

https://www.lewis-clark.org/article/2723


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## danben (Mar 23, 2020)

I remember reading a book on wilderness survival back in the 1960s (my first introduction to the topic). One of the things that had always stuck in my mind was the author writing that you can starve to death eating a diet of rabbits and flourish eating a diet of grasshoppers. I think the idea was to boil the grasshoppers and eat the resulting soup.


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## stevekozak (Oct 4, 2015)

Mad Trapper said:


> wapato
> 
> https://www.lewis-clark.org/article/2723


I am always here to learn, and I learned something here. Thank you for posting that!!


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

stevekozak said:


> I am always here to learn, and I learned something here. Thank you for posting that!!


Read the whole journals when you have time (couple of weeks), a few thousand + pages. Incredible true story.

https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/

P.S. there is a better link that you can download each volume as pdf file, don't have it handy.


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