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Food guide

Muskrat and beaver: catch, clean and cook

Muskrats live in every cattail marsh and beavers in the bigger creeks; both eat only plants, and their dark meat is rich and good.

Page numbers below are from the US Army Survival Manual (FM 21-76) unless another source is named. Each one opens that page.

Before you rely on thisThis teaches what the survival manuals say, for a real emergency. Outside one, your state's hunting, trapping and fishing laws apply. Cook all wild meat all the way through, and never eat an animal that looked sick.A learning tool, not a replacement for training. In an emergency, call 911.
What the law usually allows

In many states, muskrats and beavers are furbearers. They may be trapped only in their trapping seasons, with a hunting license and a fur taker permit, using legal traps set the way the rules say. Beaver season is shorter than muskrat season. Snares and deadfalls on land are illegal. Check this year's state rules.

Ways to catch it

Old newspaper photos of muskrat hunters with their catch and a muskrat houseLegal trapping in seasonLicense and season

Muskrats leave feed piles of cut cattails, dome houses of reeds and narrow swimming paths. Beavers leave dams, lodges and pointed, chewed stumps. A licensed trapper sets legal traps on the paths they swim every day.

Needs a hunting license and fur taker permit, in season, with legal traps. Check this year's rules for trap types and where traps may go.

p. 99
A wildlife worker beside a cage trap holding a young beaverLive trapLicense and season

Wildlife workers catch beavers in large cage traps set on the bank where they come out of the water.

Needs the same license, permit and season. Check this year's rules.

p. 99
Snare on a runPractice only

The manual puts a wire loop where a run (a narrow path one kind of animal uses) is easy to see, and narrows the path with sticks so the animal walks into the loop.

Snares are illegal for this in many states. Build the trigger on a table to learn how it works, then take it apart. Never set it outdoors.

p. 101

Clean it, step by step

  1. Wear gloves. Muskrats and beavers can carry tularemia (general food safety, not the manual).

    p. 121
  2. Raw muskrat skins, peeled off whole like socks, drying on boards

    Cut off the feet and tail (keep a beaver tail to cook). Slit the skin across the back legs and peel it toward the head like a sock (how trappers skin muskrats, not the manual).

    p. 121

  3. Muskrats have two musk glands near the tail, and beavers have castor glands and oil glands near the tail. Cut them out whole without breaking them, or the meat will taste bad (where they are: general trapper practice; removing musk glands is in the manual).

    p. 121

  4. Open the belly and pull out the guts, chest too. Pinch off the bladder and cut below your fingers.

    p. 122

  5. Check the heart and liver for worms and spots. Keep them if they look smooth, wet and dark red.

    p. 122

  6. Cut off the head. Cut a beaver into legs, back and ribs; the front legs come off with no joint, and the back legs pop out at the hip.

    pp. 122 to 123

  7. Trim off the fat, which tastes strong. To keep meat longer, soak it in salt water that covers it (the manual's brine), and wash the salt off before cooking.

    p. 125

Cook it, step by step

  1. A plate of beaver stew

    Boil or stew the meat until tender. Beaver is a big animal, so cook big pieces slowly.

    p. 123
  2. A whole skinned beaver hung beside an open fire to roast

    Or roast pieces over coals on a spit, turning them, until well done.

    p. 123

  3. Beaver tail: hold it over the fire until the scaly skin blisters, peel the skin off, then boil or roast the fatty meat inside (general knowledge, not the manual).

  4. Cook to 165 F inside (general food safety, not the manual).

    Military Survival and Rescue Guide, page 87

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Photo credits
Old newspaper photos of muskrat hunters with their catch and a muskrat house: Unknown, 1903, Public domain, sourceA wildlife worker beside a cage trap holding a young beaver: USFWS Mountain-Prairie, Public domain, sourceRaw muskrat skins, peeled off whole like socks, drying on boards: Kuerschner, Public domain, sourceA plate of beaver stew: Adriao, CC BY-SA 3.0, sourceA whole skinned beaver hung beside an open fire to roast: Thérèse Ottawa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

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