# Is there any real danger in making a meal of captured house mice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576 "2009-04-28T01:08:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/1 "2009-04-28T01:08:09Z")
Let’s say I moved into a house that was infested with mice and I needed to trap & kill them to make the place habitable. Being a “waste not - want not” kind of person I determine to see if there was some way to include these mice as part of healthy diet. If cooked properly is there any danger? What’s the best way to cook them? What’s the best way to serve them? Fry them to make crunchies for salad? Can you disembowel and skin them or should you just cook them whole? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/2 "2009-04-28T02:59:39Z")
My cats highly recommend the heads. I do know there are some parasites that can be acquired by eating mice, not sure if they would be killed by cooking. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/3 "2009-04-28T05:55:30Z")
Dang! The economy IS really bad… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/4 "2009-04-28T06:13:03Z")
Well, if they’re [_giant_ mice…](http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theappetizer/archive/2008/08/27/is-eating-kangaroo-meat-better-for-the-environment.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/5 "2009-04-28T06:34:35Z")
[Farley Mowat’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farley_Mowat) recipe for, Souris à la crème ([Mice in Cream](http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/cookingrats.htm)) Skin, gut and wash some fat mice without removing their heads. Cover them in a pot with ethyl alcohol and marinate 2 hours. Cut a piece of salt pork or sowbelly into small dice and cook it slowly to extract the fat. Drain the mice, dredge them thoroughly in a mixture of flour, pepper, and salt, and fry slowly in the rendered fat for about 5 minutes. Add a cup of alcohol and 6 to 8 cloves, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Prepare a cream sauce, transfer the sautéed mice to it, and warm them in it for about 10 minutes before serving. Really all ya need to do is gut 'em, string 'em on a spit and roast over a hot fire, burns off the fur and crisps the skin up nicely! CMC fnord! 😃 Do I have a piece stuck in my teeth? :eek: Hate when that happens! ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/6 "2009-04-28T07:08:08Z")
Primitive folks living in marginal areas consume mice the world over. The closest to the US come from Baja California, where rural Kiliwa still hunt down mice, cook the entire animal on hot coals, grind it into a paste and eat it, all the nutrients in the skin, bone and internal organs ready to nourish one’s body. Once thoroughly cooked, meat is meat, and whole animals even better. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/7 "2009-04-28T07:36:30Z")
FOR GODS SAKE! some of us are eating! grrrrr:mad::smack: ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/8 "2009-04-28T13:28:28Z")
I mean, they probably ate the groceries you bought to eat yourself, right? Unless you’ve been setting out poison, I’d imagine. ETA - if you’re squeamish, you probably shouldn’t open the thread called “Is there any real danger in making a meal of captured house mice?” while eating. It’s kind of a common sense thing. ---
**Author:** ![acetylene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@acetylene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acetylene)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/9 "2009-04-28T14:10:13Z")
In Army survival training we learned that the flesh of ALL birds and ALL mammals is edible. Certain organs, such as polar near liver, should be avoided. So, yeah, mice are edible. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/10 "2009-04-28T14:42:39Z")
The ancient Romans were quite fond of dormice. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/11 "2009-04-28T14:49:40Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > [Farley Mowat’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farley_Mowat) recipe for, > > Souris à la crème ([Mice in Cream](http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/cookingrats.htm)) > > Skin, gut and wash some fat mice without removing their heads. Cover them in a pot with ethyl alcohol and marinate 2 hours. > Cut a piece of salt pork or sowbelly into small dice and cook it slowly to extract the fat. > Drain the mice, dredge them thoroughly in a mixture of flour, pepper, and salt, and fry slowly in the rendered fat for about 5 minutes. Add a cup of alcohol and 6 to 8 cloves, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. > Prepare a cream sauce, transfer the sautéed mice to it, and warm them in it for about 10 minutes before serving. > > Really all ya need to do is gut 'em, string 'em on a spit and roast over a hot fire, burns off the fur and crisps the skin up nicely! > > CMC fnord! > 😃 Do I have a piece stuck in my teeth? :eek: Hate when that happens! Mmm … mice cream. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/12 "2009-04-28T15:51:34Z")
I seem to recall that mice are a suspected vector for the [Hanta virus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanta_virus). In the US, I recall that this is particuarly true in the Southwest. So, maybe snacking on mice in New Mexico may not be a good plan. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/13 "2009-04-28T16:58:58Z")
Hanta virus is spread mainly by inhaling mouse droppings. I’m not aware of its ever having been spread through ingestion of meat. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/14 "2009-04-28T17:30:03Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Hanta virus is spread mainly by inhaling mouse droppings. I’m not aware of its ever having been spread through ingestion of meat. I suspect you’d want to make very sure you gutted the critter properly, taking care to avoid puncturing the intestines accidentally. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/15 "2009-04-28T17:36:17Z")
And cook it thoroughly, as was stated in the OP. Several cases of bubonic plague in recent years have come from eating wild rodents that weren’t thoroughly cooked. I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who caught it that way. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/16 "2009-04-28T17:46:19Z")
Toxoplasmosis is orally acquired and at the asexual stage of its very complicated life cycle can thrive in any mammal, humans included. Mice are common carriers of toxoplasmosis. Toxo protazoa infect the muscle tissues and brains of mice and rats, causing them to become risk-takers. This tends to put them in the path of housecats, who eat them, along with the toxo, and eventually excrete them in their waste. The most common way for a human to get toxo is handling cat feces, but eating a contaminated mouse should do it. Toxo, as well as being a risk to the fetus of a pregnant women if she gets an infection during pregnancy, has potential links with [schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in humans](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090311085151.htm) (which, considering how they it makes rats and mice a little crazy, doesn’t sound that far fetched). ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/17 "2009-04-28T18:08:59Z")
> [@Tamara+](#): > > FOR GODS SAKE! some of us are eating! grrrrr:mad::smack: Why do I open these threads on my lunch hour? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/18 "2009-04-28T18:10:27Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > The most common way for a human to get toxo is handling cat feces So, for crying out loud, wash your hands after you scoop out the litter box! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/19 "2009-04-28T18:32:39Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > So, for crying out loud, wash your hands after you scoop out the litter box! You’d think so, wouldn’t you? 160 years since Dr. Holmes\*, and some people still haven’t gotten the idea. \*ETA: Oliver Wendell, of course, not Sherlock. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576/20 "2009-04-28T19:30:21Z")
I’d be tempted to gut them using an apple corer, then stuff them with a jalapeño pepper which is itself stuffed with Monterey Jack. Deep fry about 5 minutes. Mice stuffed mice. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-real-danger-in-making-a-meal-of-captured-house-mice/494576.md?page=2)