# Could a human being eat a live rat and not get sick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 25, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864 "2011-01-25T01:36:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Livardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/43a26b/32.png) [@Livardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Livardo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/1 "2011-01-25T01:36:42Z")
Well, OK, maybe not a New York sewer rat but let’s say a regular sized house mouse. I’m talking about grabbing one of those things by the tail, getting enough good solid bites and swallowing it full. Can the human body handle digesting this thing? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/2 "2011-01-25T02:03:38Z")
Do you mean can the average human eat a rat and avoid getting diseases or parasites? Sure, no problem, AFAIK they aren’t any more diseased than other species. There’s some nasty rodent bugs but they’re not too common. Can the average human eat a live animal that is trying to get away and possibly screaming, while the human is trying to avoid vomiting? This is less likely. ---
**Author:** ![Romeo\_and\_Whatsherface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Romeo\_and\_Whatsherface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Romeo_and_Whatsherface)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/3 "2011-01-25T03:21:05Z")
My Italian grandfather served in the Italian army during WWI. (Yes, that’s World War ONE–I was the late-in-life baby of his youngest daughter.) Conditions were so bad, the troops subsisted on mice. No physical harm, but that and the other horror of war really damaged his psyche. Not exactly what the OP was asking, unless you think of mice as VERY SMALL rats.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/4 "2011-01-25T04:01:17Z")
In the book “[Never Cry Wolf](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Cry_Wolf)”, which is said to be based on real research, the author subsists on whole raw field mice. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/5 "2011-01-25T04:04:46Z")
I am not really sure what you are getting at either. People can eat small mammals just fine most of the time as long as you can stomach it. I am confused by the mouse/rat bait and switch too. They aren’t the same thing but neither are squirrels or rabbits. You can kill all of them and munch down if you have too. I wouldn’t want to have rat sushi for lunch every day but a fresh kill from an apparently healthy animal probably won’t hurt you. Wild rats (or mice or squirrels for that matter) don’t carry rabies contrary to popular belief. They do have lots of parasites in their fur however that carry diseases and that is a bigger worry. If you are ever dying of hunger and all you have is your little buddy Herman pittering around about your feet, find some way to skin him and say grace for a your own personal Thanksgiving. If you have some sort of fire to cook it with, there is little to worry about. People eat cooked rats in some parts of Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/6 "2011-01-25T04:28:06Z")
Humans can handle a lot. Starvation is an _immediate_ problem, many of the issues that might come up from munching an animal down while it is kicking and screaming will probably be less immediate than starvation. Humans regularly eat a lot worse than raw mammal. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/7 "2011-01-25T04:45:39Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Humans can handle a lot. Starvation is an _immediate_ problem, many of the issues that might come up from munching an animal down while it is kicking and screaming will probably be less immediate than starvation. Humans regularly eat a lot worse than raw mammal. Humans also, generally speaking, have access to fire and can bash a rat against the ground to kill it. There are no instances where eating raw, living animals would be necessary for survival. Raw animals, maybe. But we would be able to kill them first, if we were able to catch them. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/8 "2011-01-25T08:06:52Z")
It sounds as though you’re talking about eating the whole animal including the fur, the dirt adhering to the paws, and the contents of its digestive system. That - especially the last bit - could make you ill. If the rat has recently eaten something that would make a human ill (for example parts of another animal that had been dead long enough to propagate sizable populations of pathogenic bacteria), then you could get food poisoning. I’m pretty sure some of the rat’s natural gut flora aren’t going to be particularly great when introduced to the top end of the human digestive system. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/9 "2011-01-25T08:26:44Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It sounds as though you’re talking about eating the whole animal including the fur, the dirt adhering to the paws, **and the contents of its digestive system**. The liquid centre is the best bit! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/10 "2011-01-25T08:55:40Z")
You can have mine. I’m not really that hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/11 "2011-01-25T16:44:35Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > You can have mine. I’m not really that hungry. A single rat would just arouse my appetite without bedding it back down. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/12 "2011-01-25T17:03:58Z")
It would be a strangely hasty, agitated meal. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/13 "2011-01-25T17:14:40Z")
As we grab the live mouse by the tail, hold it above our head and lower it toward our mouth so we can bite into it… is there any chance it might be pregnant? ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/14 "2011-01-25T17:42:20Z")
**Need answer fast!** :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/15 "2011-01-25T17:44:44Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > You can have mine. I’m not really that hungry. We have finally found something that **Mangetout** won’t eat. And I was looking forward to the thread “My food has many fleas.” ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/16 "2011-01-25T17:46:14Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > In the book “[Never Cry Wolf](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Cry_Wolf)”, which is said to be based on real research, the author subsists on whole raw field mice. This is inaccurate. Farley Mowat claims that while studying the arctic wolves he > [@](#): > > …took a job in the Barren Lands of Canada’s Northwest Territory as a government biologist to study wolves. For months he subsisted on their diet of mice and raw, parasite-infested caribou. IIRC while attempting to join the wolf pack, he sampled from the fresh kill of a caribou but I do not believe he ever ate the mice raw, instead he marinated them in ethyl alcohol, then roasted or boiled them. > [@](#): > > While eating the mice, I noticed that there were too many bones and that they had a very dull favor. To solve this problem I created the recipe called Creamed Mouse, or Souris a la Crème. The ingredients include one dozen fat mice, one cup white flour, one-piece sowbelly, salt and pepper, cloves, and ethyl alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/17 "2011-01-25T19:33:16Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > We have finally found something that **Mangetout** won’t eat. And I was looking forward to the thread “My food has many fleas.” Don’t get me wrong. I’ll eat rat one day. Just not today. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/18 "2011-01-25T19:49:18Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Don’t get me wrong. I’ll eat rat one day. > > Just not today. My faith in the accuracy of your name is restored. I have eaten muskrat. Dead, skinned, cut up and stewed. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/19 "2011-01-25T20:13:34Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Don’t get me wrong. I’ll eat rat one day. > > Just not today. ¿Que es este carne? ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864/20 "2011-01-25T21:34:57Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > As we grab the live mouse by the tail, hold it above our head and lower it toward our mouth so we can bite into it… is there any chance it might be pregnant? Two (or more) for the price of one! And I love the way they tickle on the way down…:eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-human-being-eat-a-live-rat-and-not-get-sick/568864.md?page=2)