I have a question about jackrabbit anatomy. I recently shot a jackrabbit and in preparing it to eat, noticed that on the liver there is a small bag-like gland, and was wondering if anyone knew what that was. Bile gland? In one lrabbit iver it looked like it was yellowish, in another it was dark colored. Attached to the liver. By the way, the heart and liver of the jackrabbit taste quite good. Next comes tenderizing the meat of the rest of it...
Deb

Debbie, you may want to check with your local fish and game office. I'm in central oregon, I don't eat rabbits but once in a while I help thin the population, not too long ago I was talking to a local biologist and he told me if I was going to eat them to wear latex gloves when cleaning them and to look for some type of discoloration on the liver, I wasn't paying real close attention because I don't plan on cleaning any but he said it was some type of disease that could be passed on to humans.

Debbie,

The yellow or green bag attached to the liver of a rabbit is the gall bladder. It secretes bile into the intestines to help digest food. It will vary in color from yellow to green depending on what the rabbit is eating and how long ago it ate. In response to wapitirod's concerns, the disease the fish and game people are likely talking about is tularemia. It is spread by ticks, infected rabbits/carcasses, and contaminated water or soil among other things. To avoid infection you should wear gloves whenever you handle rabbit carcasses. Cooking will kill the bacteria that causes tularemia so avoid eating it if it isn't fully cooked. Antibiotics will effectively treat a person that gets infected so if you have fever, chills, headache, sore throat, or swollen lymph nodes shortly after (4-5 days) handling or eating a rabbit, you should see your doctor immediately. Interestingly enough most people get infected when they are clearing brush, or mowing the lawn and inadvertently aerosolize the bacteria. Overpopulation helps spread the disease between rabbits so by all means continue to help thin the population with the handgun of your choice, just make sure to wear gloves!!!

Jarod Hanson (DVM student, class of 2006 U of MN)

kill da wabbit, kill da wabbit! Sorry, I just had to do that!! Dan B made me do it!

Gerry...do you ever make a post anymore without using my name!

thanks a lot Jarod for the gall bladder info. I process all my rabbits and squirrels while wearing gloves, and have heard of tularemia. Actually I read something helpful in a book on rabbit hunting about what wapitirod wrote. When tularemia is present, there are often White spots on the liver of the infected animal. So I plan to inspect the livers of all rabbits and not eat any with white spots on them.