[quote=walterwhite]so many wild rabbits around here this year. want to shoot and eat them. but what about tularemia? is it really dangerous to eat wild hares?[/quote]
Tularemia is not that common. Just to be safe, wear gloves when cleaning them, wash up afterward, and cook the meat. It’s a bacteria relatively easy to eliminate with cooking.
I shoot rabbits from my back porch all the time. The little monsters attack my ornamental plants and grape vines. I use a .177 Beeman R9 air rifle; it makes little noise, and is limited much more by the skill of the shooter than the accuracy of the gun. Longest distance I have shot one is about 50 yards. With its scope, though, I constantly fear the neighbors will see and take me for the homicidal maniac I truly am, so I usually hunt at dusk or dawn.
They’re easy hunting, and if you want to eat them you would not go hungry for a while. I can’t bring myself to eat them, however, having seen the fleas and ticks crawling off, so I leave them for the coyotes to eat at night.
I suspect suppression of rattlesnakes gets the bunny population going.
