Detroit area Roman Catholics have one more dining option during Lent than most other followers of the faith.  The culinary appeal of Muskrat is up for debate.

A long standing permission allows local Catholics to eat muskrat, a furry, marsh dwelling rodent native to the area, on days of abstinence, including Fridays of Lent.

The custom dates to the region's missionary history in the 1700s and is especially prevalent in communities along the Detroit River.

The Rev. Tim Laboe grew up in an area of Michigan where the practice has long been a tradition and recalls sitting down for muskrat dinners with his grandfather.

Laboe said, I don't know if I enjoy more eating the muskrat or watching people try it for the first time.  Some people describe it as tasting like duck, but Laboe disagrees, he thinks it tastes like muskrat.

I say if you smother it with ranch dressing and a lot of garlic and other choice spices, you might be able to get through your first bite of muskrat.  We can guarantee one thing, it doesn't taste like chicken.  Here's more from the Associated Press.

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