Michigan – Good News – You Can Eat Muskrat on Fridays During Lent

With Good Friday and Easter on the way this weekend, Lent ends tomorrow (Thursday). Soon, those meatless Fridays and fish fries (I checked - that IS the correct plural) will be over for another year - unless you've been enjoying eating muskrat.

I've never met anybody who says they did this, but, if you're Catholic and grew up around Detroit you may have been among those who eat muskrat during Lent. Even on Fridays. According to the MLive.com, this all goes back to the 1700s, when priests in the area allowed the practice, due to the lack of other food in the area. (Really - no fish in 1700s Michigan - a place full of pristine streams, rivers and lakes at the time?) The tradition held on through the years and many people in the area still eat muskrat.

My question: do you? (Or did you, during some past Lent?)

Here's the story.