The Other (other) White Meat!

[elysian]

I admit I have some redneck heritage, and I say with deep trepidation it's been hard for me to completely embrace civilization, because my husband is a 100% certifiable redneck as well as is the rest of his family.

With this admission, I will confide that while I enjoy the readily available commercially raised meats, i.e. chicken, turkey, pork and beef, that I don't mind eating what some people consider to be wild game: squirrels, deer, certain freshwater fish including perch, bass, bluegill, crappie and (farm-raised) catfish, as well as rabbits. Rabbit is quite tasty, though hard to come by in Central Ohio where "walking on the wild side" in a culinary sense means ordering a jalapeno White Castle. (Yes, you can get jalapeno flavored cheese on your White Castle, but they aren't that spicy.) Occasionally the North Market has fresh dressed rabbit, and while it's tasty, it's expensive- usually about $7.50 per pound.

Anyway I wonder if these guys would consider shipping some frozen rabbit up to my own personal portion of fly-over country. I'm sending in for the free recipe book!

Rabbit! Yum!

[NeilUnreal]

My sister and brother-in-law live out in the country in central Kentucky and eat a good bit of game and fish. A lot of people out in the country there raise and sell rabbits on the side; there are always "Rabbits 4 Sale" signs on the back roads.

I'm that way about seafood. Though my family tree is umpteen-generation Kentuckian, a lot of my upbringing was near the ocean. Even travelling in Japan and southeast Asia, I never encountered anything out of the sea I wouldn't at least taste.

-Neil

p.s. I think I'm too soft-hearted to eat squirrel -- they look so pitiful bagged and frozen. I'm more inclined to bury them in a shoebox.

[elysian]

I would say any wild game is worth trying if it is carefully processed and cleaned- I remember my grandfather skinning squirrels- Dad always liked hunting out in the boonies where the big red squirrels live, as opposed to the smaller grey squirrels that permeate the city and urban areas. Either species is tasty, though the red ones are larger and meatier they are also a lot harder to find.

The best way to prepare squirrel (once it's been thoroughly cleaned and cut up) is to boil it like one would chicken. It's particularly nice boiled in either chicken broth or bouillon, with some onion, garlic and black pepper as all of those items will help to get rid of any "gamey" taste. Then you would make dumplings or flat noodles (homemade, the kind you make with flour and eggs and roll out really thin with a rolling pin) and boil them in the broth. If you want the meat browned, you can sprinkle some black pepper on the meat pieces, and put in the oven for a few minutes with some water or broth in the bottom of the pan so the meat doesn't dry out.

Rabbit can be pan-fried like chicken (my mother-in-law likes them that way.) Just about any chicken recipe will work with rabbit.

[Abigail]

I would say any wild game is worth trying if it is carefully processed and cleaned- I remember my grandfather skinning squirrels- Dad always liked hunting out in the boonies where the big red squirrels live, as opposed to the smaller grey squirrels that permeate the city and urban areas. Either species is tasty, though the red ones are larger and meatier they are also a lot harder to find.

Here in UK our red squirrel population seems to be dwindling and the greys are growing more numerous. I believe the greys can eat the acorns or something at an earlier stage in their (the acorns) development and so they get to eat up all the acorns and then there is none left for the reds (this is what I have heard). We have plenty of squirrels about but I never ever see reds. From my kitchen window I can sometimes see a little grey one playing on the tree (do they hibernate as I actually havent seen him lately...or maybe he has been eaten ) I am sure I heard that the greys came in from USA

[elysian]

Here in UK our red squirrel population seems to be dwindling and the greys are growing more numerous. I believe the greys can eat the acorns or something at an earlier stage in their (the acorns) development and so they get to eat up all the acorns and then there is none left for the reds (this is what I have heard). We have plenty of squirrels about but I never ever see reds. From my kitchen window I can sometimes see a little grey one playing on the tree (do they hibernate as I actually havent seen him lately...or maybe he has been eaten ) I am sure I heard that the greys came in from USA

I don't know what it is but it seems the grey squirrels are more suited to an urban environment. They don't hibernate but are active all winter. My husband enjoys feeding them and buys bulk peanuts and corn. Of course in the city you can't hunt them anyway.

In the town I was originally from there used to be a lot of heavy industry and therefore a lot of pollution. I remember as a little kid- before the late 70's when most of the factories shut down- there would be mornings in which you could look outside and fail to see the sun for the black smog, and many days the air would have a metallic taste. It was either due to the pollution or a disease (the theory is the pollution weakened the squirrels' immune systems, making them vulnerable to common diseases they could normally fight off) but every single squirrel in town was killed off by something. For almost three years- (1976,77,78) there were no squirrels, and almost no birds.

I can't say it was a good thing the union thugs ran off most of the factory owners, or that it was a good thing my hometown lost half of the human population between 1976 and 1980, but one good thing that came of 90% of the heavy industry being wiped out due to economic and political factors was that the air quality improved substantially. The Dept. of Wildlife actually brought in grey squirrels from rural areas (red and grey squirrels co-exist in rural Ohio) as well as robins, starlings, sparrows and blue-jays to try to restore wildlife. The wildlife is doing very well there today though I can't say the same for the heavy industries.

Squirrels, regardless of color or species, are still protected there- as well as in a number of other Ohio cities. You cannot legally kill or trap them within city limits, as my mother found out the hard way a few years ago. They have a number of grey squirrels who live in their back yard, and they like to eat Mom's flower bulbs. Mom appreciates her garden more than the squirrels' quality of life, so she set out live traps much like the ones for raccoons. She started trapping them, marking their tails with nail polish (to see if they came back) and releasing them way out in the boonies. One of her neighbors thought she was trapping them to kill and eat them so the neighbor ratted her out and called the police. The police came to their house early in the morning (while she wasn't quite awake and was still in her nightie) and told her that it was illegal to trap and eat squirrels. Mom was shocked and explained she wasn't eating them (she, unlike others in my family, does not have a taste for squirrel.) Then the officer warned her that it's not only illegal to trap and kill them, it's illegal to in any way interfere with the comings and goings of squirrels within the city limits.

I don't know what purpose squirrels serve in urban ecosystems- they're too big and vicious for cats to eat - but apparently they're important if only for aesthetic reasons. They are fun to watch.

[Abigail]

Squirrels, regardless of color or species, are still protected there- as well as in a number of other Ohio cities. You cannot legally kill or trap them within city limits, as my mother found out the hard way a few years ago. They have a number of grey squirrels who live in their back yard, and they like to eat Mom's flower bulbs. Mom appreciates her garden more than the squirrels' quality of life, so she set out live traps much like the ones for raccoons. She started trapping them, marking their tails with nail polish (to see if they came back) and releasing them way out in the boonies. One of her neighbors thought she was trapping them to kill and eat them so the neighbor ratted her out and called the police. The police came to their house early in the morning (while she wasn't quite awake and was still in her nightie) and told her that it was illegal to trap and eat squirrels. Mom was shocked and explained she wasn't eating them (she, unlike others in my family, does not have a taste for squirrel.) Then the officer warned her that it's not only illegal to trap and kill them, it's illegal to in any way interfere with the comings and goings of squirrels within the city limits.

I don't know what purpose squirrels serve in urban ecosystems- they're too big and vicious for cats to eat - but apparently they're important if only for aesthetic reasons. They are fun to watch.

They are fun to watch. Some are quite friendly. My aunt has quite a big garden with a huge tree and she has many living in her tree. They are so cute with their little bushy tails.

We sometimes get foxes here in the urban areas. They are a pain and we've had one or two cases where foxes have even come into the houses and bitten babies. Well fox-hunting (organized hunts with hounds) in UK has been outlawed now (I think the Lords tried to keep it but they were over-ruled or something), so I wonder if that will mean the foxes will stay out the towns and in the countryside. I suppose time will tell.

[elysian]

They may need to bring back hunting to keep the fox populations in check. What the PETA types don't understand is when humans introduce species into ecosystems often the balance is disrupted. If a species has no natural predators (or not enough of them) humans may need to keep the balance.

There are people around where I live who object to deer hunting, but I get to see what happens to vehicles (and the people in them) that hit deer on the freeways and it's not a pleasant sight. I would rather the deer be hunted for two reasons, one because they are a hazard to drivers and therefore a threat to human life, and two because if they're going to get killed anyway, why not hunt them so the meat will go to good use?

[Abigail]

Yes, I think you are right about the balances in nature being disturbed by our meddling. However I am not sad that the hunt has been canned. I just cant bare thinking about a pack of hounds mauling one fox. I think foxes need to be controlled, though I dont know how best it should be done. Many people who participate in the hunt do not believe it is cruel though as they say the fox suffers just as much or even more being killed other ways ie poisoning, whacked on the head etc. I wonder what the real truth is.

[$cirisme]

My sister and brother-in-law live out in the country in central Kentucky and eat a good bit of game and fish. A lot of people out in the country there raise and sell rabbits on the side; there are always "Rabbits 4 Sale" signs on the back roads.

That's what those rabbits for sale signs are for? I always thought they were for pets.

[NeilUnreal]

That's what those rabbits for sale signs are for? I always thought they were for pets.

Either or both, depending on the seller and the rabbits. An Angora is unlikely to end up in the stew pot, I'd imagine.

Ditto for goats; sometimes they are sold as pet/weed controllers and sometimes for food. Even chickens are that way -- a lot of country people keep chickens around without bothering to eat either the chickens or the eggs. My sister used to have chickens that were socialized and hung around in the field behind the house with the dogs and cats.

The distinction between "pets" and "livestock" can get a little blurry down on the farm...

-Neil

[elysian]

This is true- my sister lives in the middle-of-nowhere up in the mountains of North Carolina. They have kept rabbits and did sell off quite a few of them to some friends of theirs who butcher and eat them, but my sister's family doesn't care for rabbit meat themselves, nor do they care for butchering them. They also keep goats, large dogs (for awhile they were breeding Great Danes and Mastiffs) and more cats than I could keep track of. They do keep the goats in an enclosure, the dogs are in enclosures as well, but the cats simply go whereever. They don't neuter or spay the cats, so they are always having kittens. Her rationale for having all the cats is that they would be overrun with mice and vermin which is probably true, but not terribly healthy for the cats. Sadly few of these cats live beyond a few years of age-either they are killed in the road or killed by the neighbors' dogs.

Occasionally the neighbors' chickens escape and for awhile they had a Rhode Island Red rooster crowing in their yard and roosting on their back porch, until the neighbor's uncontrolled dogs got him.

I don't know if this is peculiar to rural NC but it seems everyone has at least one large-breed dog that is never leashed and runs wild. It irks me to no end when people simply let their dogs run loose but it seems to be common practice down there, as well as letting cats simply wander about and breed and be targets for rogue dogs.