From marsh to mouth: Muskrat dinner tradition kept alive in N.J.
Charlie Franklin Jr. and his two cousins, Donnie Franklin and Harry Franklin Jr. are part of a vanishing breed – the New Jersey trapper.
Their harvest of muskrats not only helps them to continue to make a living off the land but also keeps the Lower Alloways Creek Fire Company's annual muskrat dinner alive.
In the early morning the Franklins set off in their 17-foot, flat-bottomed boat with approximately 180 traps across Alloways Creek and the nearby marshes. They would spend half the morning setting the traps in the thick mud and return the next day during high tide to collect their harvest.
A few days later the dinning room inside the fire company was filled with hungry people ready to dine on the unique taste of fried muskrat.
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