Eating muskrat during Lent is a tradition that is alive and well in Michigan. It dates back to the French Catholics, who settled south of Detroit in the 18th century. Usually Catholics have to abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent, but, as the story goes, because of the limited food options in the impoverished area throughout the winter, one pastor asked church officials to make an exception for muskrats—a rabbit-sized water-dwelling rodent.

Former Lansing Bishop Kenneth Povish once said, “anyone who could eat muskrat was doing penance worthy of the greatest of the saints.”

Michigan is far from the only place with unique Lenten traditions. In different parts of the world, Catholics are allowed to eat other "non-traditional" Friday meats such as beaver, alligator, skunk-headed coot, puffin, capybara, and hippo. Good luck catching that hippo.

Here is a more "traditional" Lenten food to try.