Eating Wildlife

[Zathras]

I'm interested to hear what people have to say about the safety aspects of eating woodland wildlife and to know if many people here do so.

On the whole I'm not going out of my way to kill any of the wildlife as I want to enjoy it's company and we are managing the woodland with conservation as a key aim. However, there is game and pests which I would shoot given the chance and would plan to eat them when I do.

The locals seemed not to be worried as they were out in force during the pheasant season, shooting anything that moved including pigeons on our border which were not collected by their dogs - but as we were uncertain how long it was since they had been shot we didn't take them back to eat, and I now have some regrets of this as they looked in good health and recent.

Now I used to fish for trout therefore familiar with the aspects such as fish health, dispatching, gutting, preparing and so on from then - but much less familiar with the same for woodland animals such as rabbits, squirrels, pheasants etc.

I suspect that some animal health issues such as myxomatosis in rabbits is going to be pretty easy to spot so I would avoid eating those, but is there really much else to watch out for that isn't obvious on initial inspection of the animal?

[oldclaypaws]

pigeons on our boarder

If I were your lodger and found pigeons roosting on me, I'd either ask for a reduction in the rent or look for alternative accommodation.

[Zathras]

pigeons on our boarder

If I were your lodger and found pigeons roosting on me, I'd either ask for a reduction in the rent or look for alternative accommodation.

Fixed...

[Dexter's Shed]

I just got to reply

first off though, mixy in rabbits is not transferable to humans, yup it does not look very nice to the eye, but the meat is unaffected, saying that, I've never eaten an infected one, but the dogs and ferrets have.

also please, anyone shooting live quarry, make sure you have the correct rifle/shotgun to do the job, we see too many cases of animals with non fatal wounds due to shooting
air rifles with a 12ft per lb limit are fine out to around 45yds on wood pidgeon and smaller, and they have been known to down a pheasant and even a fox, but I would never take the chance

so, I used to regularly carry out pest control for a local orchard owner, the rabbit infestation was huge, for around 2yrs, we shot approx 60 rabbits every Friday night (you work it out)
they went in the freezer, fed us and the other animals (pets)

wood pigeon, breast thinly sliced, flash fried and then add to scrambled egg on toast

squirrel, placed in tin foil with oil and garlic, we add a honey glazed, then put into embers of the fire to cook,

pheasant,partridge,grouse, have eaten, but admit to not being a lover of the taste, bit too gamey for me, so they are safe

muntjac,deer,boar, if I saw it in our woods, it would at some point end up on the table Im sure

canadian geese, are classed by many as a tough meat, but if the breasts are filleted, I will say it tastes better than steak
duck, very nice,yes please

[Zathras]

WOW, that's a lot of rabbits! and an incredible list of free dinners you've had there...

At the moment it is indeed an air rifle that I'm using, at just under the legal domestic limit of 12ft/lb.

I can confidently shoot a rat in the head at 20 metres standing (length of my garden) and I've had three recently with more to come as they are being displaced by the rail works nearby. I target shoot at greater distances so would probably still be confident at twice that with a properly setup scope in good weather conditions - about the 45yrd distance as you mentioned above.

But as you say it is only good for small quarry, so anything from pheasant up is definitely out of bounds; that being said I have seen a close quarters clean pheasant kill with the same air rifle. There are often deer in our woods, but not when we're about as they are very skittish and waaay too big for domestic air rifles - not to mention I have no idea how to deal with one or a freezer big enough.

I'll be sticking with Squirrels, Rats, Rabbits, Pigeons and the like - probably give Pheasants a miss as I'm not keen on the taste either, and ducks are probably safe as my partner used to raise laying ducks so wouldn't be keen.

In our woods you would rarely get the chance to shoot beyond 25m due to the tree density, so any pest/game is going to be close enough for clean air rifle shooting plus I'll be sticking to the small stuff.

I also have a hunting catapult, which with the right ammunition will shoot at well over the air rifle limit - I'm not a good enough shot with that to actually go hunting with it, but I know many people do. However I'm not a bad shot and a pigeon at <15m could possibly get my attention if I was running low on food while camping.

So... as far as you're concerned - there isn't much of a problem with the quality/disease in the average woodland game/pest then?
Nothing to watch out for given your experiences?

[oldclaypaws]

There is probably more disease and health concerns with farmed food that has gone through a long supply chain as there is with game. Most food hygiene issues arise from poor preparation. Wild animals have less fat and no artificial antibiotics, dodgy additives in their feed (remember BSE?) or growth supplements. Did you know much of our bacon is artificially injected post kill with milk to bulk it up? I prefer the idea of an animal that has had a happy natural life rather than one which has been kept in artificial conditions and never known freedom; morally I can see the argument that game food is less repugnant than something intensively farmed.
Venison is virtually free from cholesterol and the burgers I've had have been succulent and delicious.

I do not shoot, but know people who do. Someone I know shoots on their own land and has taken out loads of foxes, other 'pests' and game not with a rifle (although they have a firearms certificate), but with a modern improvement on an older form of hunting kit that they claim is as accurate, a cleaner kill, safer to other humans and a lot quieter- a compound bow with a broadhead. Have to say, while its not permitted here, if he's as good a shot as he claims I can see the logic, and its a popular form of hunting in the USA . As Dexter says, what goes on in the woods stays in the woods. A poor shot with a rifle is less humane than a good shot by other means.

[smojo]

Picked up a great book at a charity shop "When All Hell Breaks Loose" by Cody Lundin. He goes into great depth about survival strategies particularly water and food provision after a disaster when there is nothing in the taps or the shops to drink or eat. He said he used to think you can eat anything no matter how old as long as you heated/boiled it long enough, which would kill any harmful bacteria etc. He used to try all sorts of dead animals - road kill etc, even maggot ridden stuff and it did make him ill sometimes. Then he spoke to some foody/scientist expert type person and it changed his outlook. He told him it wasn't just a case of the bacteria being bad for you, it was the pathogens caused by the excretia from the bugs/bacteria etc in the food that were poisonous and that obviously can't be removed by heating or boiling.

Dexter - you missed out big black slugs in your list of woodland food. They are easy to shoot cos they don't move very fast.

Do they do Quorn versions of squirrel or rats for us non meat eaters?