"English taxidermist Jonathan McGowan has made roadkill his sole diet for the past 30 years. At the age of 14, he tried a dead adder and while it didn’t taste very good, it made him curious to try other roadkill finds.
The taxidermist lists fox, venison and deer among his favourite meats – but he has eaten everything the countryside has to offer over the years.
With thousands of animals being found dead at the roadside every year, Mr McGowan has varied if – on the face of it – slightly unedifying pickings.
He has eaten mice, moles, hedeghogs, squirrels, rats, foxes, badgers, hares, rabbits, deer, stoats, weasels, polecats, otters, wildcats, pheasants, finches, thrushes, ducks, geese, pigeons, owls, crows, gulls, blackbirds and cormorants.
He says many animals taste much better than people would expect."
From: http://laughingsquid.com/english-taxidermist-chooses-to-live-on-exotic-roadkill-diet-for-30-years/
Thanks to Kevin Kelly
5 comments:
How do you tell if its safe to eat road kill? I would imagine that after a period of time the meat is no longer fit for consumption. Any advice?
Here we have turkey vultures that eat all that.
Roadkill is a carnage, cooking and feeding on the victims is a macabre way of prolonging and enjoying it... He takes food away from the mouth of natural cleaners (crows, foxes...) On what grounds ? hard to understand.
Well I've eaten a bit of roadkill. But not sure I fancy fox,mice,owl badger etc ?
Phil - You basically want it as fresh as you can get it. So did you see it killed ? Is it still warm ? Was it there when you passed earlier. Then the older stuff - Has it got rigamortis, do its joints still move. Has it got maggots on it ? Does it smell bad ? Is it lying in the sun.
Its basically trying to estimate when it died and how long its been there.
Is it actually worth eating or is it too mashed up to deal with.
I remember gutting a roadkill dear with a bunch of delinquent kids. These were kids who'd been kicked out of school. Various learning and behavioural problems. Attention deficit hyperactive disorders, antisocial behaviour problems and even tagged by the police so they could track them. Now I have never seen them so quiet and attentive ! How can an ADHD kid concentrate for an hour while we skin and gut a deer ? And butcher it up for a venison stew. It was quite a lesson. Meat without the supermarket packaging.
Cheers
Rich
When I lived in Colorado I heard that the meat from roadkilled deer was given to poor families. And here in New England a deer was hit in front of the historical museum where I volunteered just as we were hosting a Revolutionary War encampment. With permission from the proper state department it provided venison stew for dozens of volunteers and reenactors (many of them hunters and very good open-hearth cooks).
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