# Who knew...



## drippin' rock (Sep 17, 2012)

rabbits were unclean?

I stumbled across this the other day---


Leviticus 11:6

New International Version (NIV)


6 The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.

So I thought why in the world would the Israelites be instructed not to eat rabbit?  The passage just says not to, not why.  So I googled it, and here is what I found.

Rabbits

Even though the rabbit is herbivorous, Leviticus 11:6 states that it is unclean. The rabbit has a very enlarged caecum. In order for the rabbit to obtain sufficient nutrients from the plants it eats, it has to ferment the material. This requires a fermentation chamber with an alkaline environment. Since the rabbit does not have a pre-stomach, like the cow does, it has to use its enlarged caecum.

However, its caecum is sandwiched between its gut and rectum and most of the absorption of the nutrients takes place there. When the rabbit redigests this material, it becomes coprophagous. In other words, it eats its own excrement. Consequently, the level of toxins in its tissues is far higher than in other herbivores. Bile salts, fatty acids, gases, and ammonia levels are all at unacceptable levels for human consumption. All rodents, and even the horse, fall into the same category. 

Learn something new every day.


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## stringmusic (Sep 18, 2012)

God is really smart!!

Just imagine all the things that skeptics pull out of the bible that seem to make no sense that we just simply don't know the answer to.

I imagine that many people thought it silly that a rabbit was not good to eat, until science figured out that it wasn't, but God already knew.


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## JB0704 (Sep 18, 2012)

stringmusic said:


> I imagine that many people thought it silly that a rabbit was not good to eat, until science figured out that it wasn't, but God already knew.



My FIL thinks rabbit is about the worst food God put on this earth.  In fact, the first time I met him he told me a story about how he once tricked a "yankee" into eating it....thought that was a pretty good joke.  I had to tell him I was born in PA, and spent some time there in high school....and rabbit was considered a fine meal by myself and those I knew.

Not sure I will ever eat one again after reading the OP, though......


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## drippin' rock (Sep 18, 2012)

JB0704 said:


> My FIL thinks rabbit is about the worst food God put on this earth.  In fact, the first time I met him he told me a story about how he once tricked a "yankee" into eating it....thought that was a pretty good joke.  I had to tell him I was born in PA, and spent some time there in high school....and rabbit was considered a fine meal by myself and those I knew.
> 
> Not sure I will ever eat one again after reading the OP, though......



Yeah, guess I'll have to swear off horse too....


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## JB0704 (Sep 18, 2012)

drippin' rock said:


> Yeah, guess I'll have to swear off horse too....





Nah, man, horse-B-Q is some fine eatin'!


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## pnome (Sep 18, 2012)

Ain't nothing wrong with eating rabbit.


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## JB0704 (Sep 18, 2012)

pnome said:


> Ain't nothing wrong with eating rabbit.



I used to think so.....until I read the OP.....gonna be tough to chew on that.

BTW....you hunt the mountains, do you eat bear?


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## pnome (Sep 18, 2012)

JB0704 said:


> BTW....you hunt the mountains, do you eat bear?



I will once I get one.  

I hear they make good breakfast sausage.


Anyway, I feel pretty confident that wild rabbit is healthier for you than mass produced chicken.


That said, man cannot live on rabbit alone.


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## ambush80 (Sep 18, 2012)

pnome said:


> Ain't nothing wrong with eating rabbit.




Or horse.


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## StriperAddict (Sep 18, 2012)

*Screuwwy Wabbet !*

Good info, thanks for sharing.


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## pnome (Sep 18, 2012)

ambush80 said:


> Or horse.



Yeah, but horses have a lot of character....


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## ross the deer slayer (Sep 18, 2012)

I've never heard of a caceum but if food has to be fermented inside the body in order to be consumed because of a lack of a certain part of the stomach... well I just think this complex system is more evidence of God, ways that He shows us His power and creation..even through a little rabbit


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## drippin' rock (Sep 18, 2012)

ross the deer slayer said:


> I've never heard of a caceum but if food has to be fermented inside the body in order to be consumed because of a lack of a certain part of the stomach... well I just think this complex system is more evidence of God, ways that He shows us His power and creation..even through a little rabbit



ok?


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## ted_BSR (Sep 24, 2012)

It is Old Testament. Replaced by the New Covenant, but sound advice in times when proper food handling techniques and "SCIENCE" had not yet helped us to avoid some unpleasant consequences. Kosher preparation is a good example (separate kitchens for meat and vegetable preparation). Pork was unclean (trichinosis), premarital sex was not allowed (VD, unwanted pregnancy, etc.). How about this one? Don't shave your temples (Hassidic Jews still practice it). If you shave with a rock, the chances of cutting yourself in the temple and bleeding out in a hurry are pretty good.

A lot of these Old Testament laws were meant to protect us.

My wife the biologist taught me about coprophagous animals, but I do love me some fried rabbit! Be mindful for shot!


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