help-what the heck is this?

[massa_jorge]

i have been finding these things for years in deer and hogs, between the layers of muscle. i have cut them open and they are just solid white chunks. are these parasites? or are they a natural occuring part of these animals' bodies? i have never found one in a whitetail, only mule deer, and of course wild hogs. no one i have ever asked this question could answer it, so i figure the brothers and sisters on the boc who do the real outdoor thing can help!
i have been eating the meat for as long as i can remember, and i am basically normal, twitch twitch:smile2:.
thanks

[223reload]

Looks like a lympth node to me Jordan.

[Netmanjack]

I think it is a little baby mouse!:big_smile:

[CHAVEZ CHAVEZ]

what part of the deer did ya take it off of ?

[flathead willie]

Looks like a lympth node to me Jordan.

That's what it looks like to me, too.

[postbeetle]

Hard to say without more info. I would go with Richard and Billie here. Lymph nodes are everywhere. The most you will find will be in the axillary spaces (arm Pit), inguinal area, (groin) and inside the abdomen just ahead of the pelvis. These are obvious and normal. Compare one of these to what you found between the muscle mass layers. Usually if you find lymph nodes that size in muscle mass areas they are swollen from a local infection or wound. But that would be obvious because you would see it. Have never seen these on domestic hogs or whitetail or anything else for that matter. They are there of course but not the size you have in your hand without some kind of pathology.

Don't know about Mule Deer or wild hog. Unfortunately, like everything else in the world to find out would probably cost ya money, e.g. a pathology report. Take a couple in a clean plastic bag, unfrozen, to your local "brown shirt" office. They will know, or will send it in to the state for Histopathology. Probably won't cost ya a dime.

[Blue Duck]

They taste like chicken.......

[Kutter]

Only when they are cooked, Mike, only when they are cooked. I much prefer them raw. :smile2:

[massa_jorge]

well i'm not going to worry about it too darn much. and kutter, they didn't really taste much like anything! seriously though lymph nodes sound right, but not between muscles in the hind quarters. evidently they don't hurt anything, my family eats wild game quite a bit and we've seen no adverse effects. thanks yall.