Curio | December 20, 2025

On This Day | Try New Foods They Say

200 words • 1 min read

Author

Josh Wolsky

It has just been learned that muskrats are a clean, sweet, juicy, palatable meat. The muskrat or marsh hare is found by the millions in the north and there are enough of them killed in Ward county every winter to keep hundreds of families in meat all winter long. The muskrat is trapped for his fur, which is quite valuable, but the meat has always been thrown away. The muskrat is a clean animal and lives on clean vegetable food. Trappers are offering the meat for sale in some sections of Wisconsin at from five to seven cents a pound. A muskrat resembles an opossum somewhat.
December 20, 1917 | Ward County Independent

Why We Chose It

Not withstanding the truth of the matter because I’ve got basis to make judgment on the qualities of muskrat meat, but I suspect our local editor gave himself a chuckle when these sentences — “be willing to try new foods,” and “muskrats are a clean, sweet, juicy, palatable meat” — made the same edition.