Dead Rabbit had large cyst below skin full of parasite eggs

Thorsbear

Thorsbear

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Walking my dogs in the woods (northwestern ontario) today and one of the hunting dogs flushed a rabbit and killed it. I was able to pull it from the dog before it was chewed.

The poor rabbit had over 10 ticks around its ears and a large cyst below the skin above the rear leg (2 inch dia. approximately)

I skinned the rabbit and the cyst was above the muscle beneath the skin. As I cut it out it was not directly connected to any tissue and had a hard tissuey outer coating. Not knowing what it was I cut the cyst (mass?) Open revealing a mucus like filling full of approximately 100 - 3mm white egg like pellets connected together in multiple strings.

Googling this I couldnt find anything that appeared to match this parasite or ?

Fly strikes (where flies lay eggs) are normally on open wounds and I dont remember fly larvae staying as eggs long enough to develop a cyst beneath the skin. There was no wounds on the rabbit. If it were a Bot fly, I dont remember them laying hundreds of eggs on one host

Does anyone know what this is? Sorry no photos were taken
 
Gross, finally got the answer. It appears to be a hydatid cyst caused by tapeworm infestation. The cyst develops in prey animal (rabbits, deer, sheep) after ingesting grass that had tapeworm eggs from predator faeces. The cyst develops and stays in the animal waiting for it to be eaten by a predator then the cycle begins again.

Soaking my hunting knife in industrial bleach and treating dogs with ivermectin right now
 
Thorsbear said:
Gross, finally got the answer. It appears to be a hydatid cyst caused by tapeworm infestation. The cyst develops in prey animal (rabbits, deer, sheep) after ingesting grass that had tapeworm eggs from predator faeces. The cyst develops and stays in the animal waiting for it to be eaten by a predator then the cycle begins again.

Soaking my hunting knife in industrial bleach and treating dogs with ivermectin right now
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First word on this post would be enough. I did not need read the rest.
 
From my Dad, mostly - he shot and ate a lot of rabbits when he was younger - me, not so much. He grew up near Big River, in more or less Central Saskatchewan - so likely mostly "bush rabbits" - probably cotton-tail, not the "jack rabbits" that we had where I lived. Was his thing that cysts under hide, not attached to meat was about normal - but he said they would check the liver - if spotted, that carcass got chucked. Also, someone had told me to try to tear hide on rear leg above "heel"(?) - if it tore, was a youngish jack rabbit that was likely tender to eat - if it did not tear very easy, then likely an older one that was tougher meat.

I recall only trying to cook up one jack rabbit - tried to reproduce a recipe of German "hausenpfeffer" - ended up with way too much white vinegar in that - probably too much in the marinade or not rinsed enough before cooking - was too strong vinegar taste for me.
 
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I grew up eating rabbits in the UK, so I was surprised that they weren't eaten more here. I was told about the parasite thing here and didn't believe it until
I shot a couple of jackrabbits in an alfalfa field. They had cysts like you described and I never shot one since.
 
270 totheend said:
So that’s what they make “diet pills” out of in third world countries.
Click to expand...

Watched a documentary 30 some years ago about a British scientist who was spending lots of time in India. Every time he went, he ended up with bad stomach issues. He ended up intentionally ingesting tape worm egg(s) before going on one of his tours, and encountered no stomach issues whatsoever during the entire expedition. Upon returning, took appropriate meds and passed a 6 foot tape worm. Can't remember anything else, but that part of the story stuck with me.
 
I’ve never found what you described on a rabbit, but I did shoot a beautiful black duck that was infested with parasitic cysts. Same deal here, the cycle continues when the cyst is ingested by a predator when the duck dies. Inside the predator's intestines, the parasite will then mature and lay eggs, which are then deposited in the animal's feces. These deposits are then accidentally ingested by new ducks feeding at the water's edge. All I know is that I’m really glad I decided to skin that bird rather than pluck it. If plucked, I may not have know it was infested with a parasite.

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Rice breast on the duck.

Sarcocystis looks like hell , and I personally would never eat a duck with it , but it won't hurt you if the duck is properly cooked.
 
I used to eat jack rabbits until I popped a big hydatid cyst on my kitchen counter... I knew what it was and haven't wanted to eat a rabbit since.
 
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