Roast Badger...

[zek]

As we're on the subject of Badgers and Roadkill...

On the way home one night in early winter, there on the side of the road was a freshly killed badger (still warm). I'm not an expert on aging the animals, but at a guess I'd say it was a young one of the year. Tho' fully grown, it still had a very clean fresh look about it. Therefore in theory, the taste shouldn't be too strong as it's not an old animal.

I removed the back leg at the femur/pelvis joint cutting as close to the pelvis as possible. I removed the foot at the ankle joint. As there's quite a lot of fat on these animals, I decided to use this to my advantage, and forget about cooking oil. Therefore I kept as much fat as possible on the joint. Try to avoid getting badger hairs on the meat - they're a nuisance to remove. I then washed the joint and put it in the fridge.

Next day I removed the two bones from the leg. My butcher believes in cooking meat with the bone in for increased flavour, and suggested cutting the bones out, and then replacing them again. When the meat is cooked, it's then a simple matter to slide the bones out without having to cut them out. I kept the femur but discarded the tibia/fibula.

I then bundled the joint into a little parcel and held it with elastic strings, covered it with foil, and popped it in the oven at 180 C for 50 minutes with a further 10 minutes without tinfoil to crisp the fat. No need to use cooking oil.

It's the best badger I've ever tasted! tho' It's only my 3rd to try. The flavour wasn't too strong - I'm sure it must have been a young animal. Keeping the fat on was a good decision too, as last time I removed most of the fat.

Zek.

[naturelover]

hi zek,sorry but i couldnt have eaten it,mind you i am not a meat eater very much anyway,just dont like the taste of it,what flavour is badger then,chickeny,beefy,porky or lamby,what one would you put it with,if i havnt said it befor,welcome to the site.

[zek]

Originally Posted by naturelover

hi zek,sorry but i couldnt have eaten it,mind you i am not a meat eater very much anyway,just dont like the taste of it,what flavour is badger then,chickeny,beefy,porky or lamby,what one would you put it with,if i havnt said it befor,welcome to the site.

The taste is quite like badger actually (and I'm not jesting). If you handle a few roadkill, or try skinning one, you'll discover that they've a distinct badger smell - this smell comes through in the taste of the meat. Apart from that, they're quite like pork. I've tried 'wild boar' pork, and found it slightly stronger than 'farmed' pork. I'd liken badger to 'wild boar' pork.
When I picked him up, I noticed some of his dung at the side of the road - it contained alot of seeds from sloe berries - he must have been eating the windfalls.

Zek.

[stripee]

sorry zek, I find this totally gross on a wildlife site!! Maybe you could join Carnivores Anonymous???

[zek]

Originally Posted by stripee

sorry zek, I find this totally gross on a wildlife site!! Maybe you could join Carnivores Anonymous???

Meles 'n' wheels!

[Kayleigh]

The badger was dead anyway, it would have been eaten by carrion if zek hadn't of picked it up. I don't think there is a problem with free food. Saying that I would not eat it my self but if someone cooked it for me I'm not saying I wouldn't try it either. How do you know it didn't have TB and can you catch TB from eating a dead badger

[zek]

And just in case someone's interested in trying badger, but concerned about possessing badger parts, I'll quote the relevant legislation;

"(3) A person is guilty of an offence if, except as permitted by or under this Act, he has in his possession or under his control any dead badger or any part of, or anything derived from, a dead badger.
(4) A person is not guilty of an offence under subsection (3) above if he shows that—
(a) the badger had not been killed, or had been killed otherwise than in contravention of the provisions of this Act or of the [1973 c. 57.] Badgers Act 1973"

There is however a slight risk of TB. I'm not sure how great the risk is, or if thoroughly cooking the meat kills the bacteria, but you've been warned!
Also, I might add, collecting roadkill can present its own hazzards from diseased animals through to traffic accidents, but as shooting, snaring and killing with dogs are not legal, RTA's are the only option left if you want roast badger.

Zek.

[Meta menardi]

I saw a dead deer at the roadside recently and there was a quick para in the paper saying that a car had hit it etc.

Quite few years ago there was a letter in Farmer's Weekly saying that someone had come across a deer dead by the road, butchered it and fed it to his dogs, which then died. The deer had been injured, someone had got a vet to come out and kill, presumably with a toxic/sedative injection.

If I am going to eat, I would want to kill, but I wouldn't want to kill. And yes, I have killed most commonly eaten farm animals, I would go with Hugh Fearnley-Wit, respect and be prepared to kill animals you keep for meat. Too many imponderables in road-kill.

[stripee]

Well, I think I prefer carrion to eat roadkill, they don't get the same chances as humans to get access to food. I agree that you are also chancing eating something dodgy.

And also, I have to say, some people on WAB are not carnivores, and also little kids look at this site, and although I know many people on this site either rear, hunt or eat meat, not all of us do....perhaps the thread should be under Bushcraft and bush meat. Then all those who think its great could comment there.
And the photos as I said earlier, are gross on WAB, YouTube maybe...

[Dogghound]

Just a thought, this sort of thing may encourage people to intentially try to knock animals down to kill (swerve at them etc), then to eat them. Just a wild thought , not my cup of tea thats for sure.

[Adam Cheeseman]

If you accidentally, or otherwise, hit and kill deer or pheasant on the road you are not allowed to pick up and remove the body for consumption. Otherwise you can be prosecuted for poaching. The person driving the next car to arrive at the scene can do so though.

Cheers,

Adam

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

If you accidentally, or otherwise, hit and kill deer or pheasant on the road you are not allowed to pick up and remove the body for consumption. Otherwise you can be prosecuted for poaching. The person driving the next car to arrive at the scene can do so though.

Cheers,

Adam

True but you not allowed to dig up badgers people still do it.

[epops]

hmmmm nope however hard i try i can't seem to remember the last badger i roasted squirrel yes but badger think i'll give it a miss for now.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by stripee

sorry zek, I find this totally gross on a wildlife site!! Maybe you could join Carnivores Anonymous???

You can report posts you find them offensive..But this is real life. Do you eat meat by the way...Those pictures look just like any other meat you would find in butchers or supermarkets..

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by zek

And just in case someone's interested in trying badger, but concerned about possessing badger parts, I'll quote the relevant legislation;

"(3) A person is guilty of an offence if, except as permitted by or under this Act, he has in his possession or under his control any dead badger or any part of, or anything derived from, a dead badger.
(4) A person is not guilty of an offence under subsection (3) above if he shows that—
(a) the badger had not been killed, or had been killed otherwise than in contravention of the provisions of this Act or of the [1973 c. 57.] Badgers Act 1973"

There is however a slight risk of TB. I'm not sure how great the risk is, or if thoroughly cooking the meat kills the bacteria, but you've been warned!
Also, I might add, collecting roadkill can present its own hazzards from diseased animals through to traffic accidents, but as shooting, snaring and killing with dogs are not legal, RTA's are the only option left if you want roast badger.

Zek.

the tb some badgers carry isnt the same strain as that which causes human tb - people can get Btb but its incredibly rare and not something to worry about.

a hiigher risk (and this goes to all roadkill) is toxins from exhaust fumes, oil , coolant etc - i'd only eat roadkill if it was relativly recent, certainly not if it had been there for more than 24 hrs

Ive nver eaten badger myself - i tend to retrieve the carcases for autopsy / examination so eating the evidence would probably be frowned upon - but i have eaten roadkill deer and rabbits in my time - at the end of the day its meat , and its already dead so why not ?

one aside - dont whatever you do be tempted to eat fox - a freind of mine did (hes a gamekeeper and was trying the if you shoot it, eat it, theory) and it was totally revolting - even deep fried fox fritter was not a culinary success.

[stripee]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

You can report posts you find them offensive..But this is real life. Do you eat meat by the way...

nope

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by eeyore

one aside - dont whatever you do be tempted to eat fox - a freind of mine did (hes a gamekeeper and was trying the if you shoot it, eat it, theory) and it was totally revolting - even deep fried fox fritter was not a culinary success.

Had he a very well ventilated kitchen, no sense of smell and no partner? The smell of fox goes a long way, the taste would be with you for ever, I imagine.

[badger426]

R.I.P. brother.
Badger.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Meta menardi

Had he a very well ventilated kitchen, no sense of smell and no partner? The smell of fox goes a long way, the taste would be with you for ever, I imagine.

he also filleted some stoats and fried them in batter - which was not pleasant eating either - tho we did have the comic relief of giving one to some kids that came trick or treating

i'd note that he isnt killing these specifically for food but rather trying to make use of species he has to shoot or trap as part of his working life.

[Kayleigh]

I herd grey squirrel make nice eating..But we won't go there..Don't want YET ANOTHER squirrel debate..

[epops]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

I herd grey squirrel make nice eating..But we won't go there..Don't want YET ANOTHER squirrel debate..

they are nice to eat end of debate

[wild woodsman]

Hi Zek,new to this forum so just reading through past topics.On the subject of "road kill",I believe that,as you say,the "kill" is fresh,then why not.If you google Fergus Drennen,Wild man,wild food then you can read various recipes on road kill and other wild foods.I am really into "The wild side of life" myself and have eaten many things,both meat and plants,after all almost all meat is organic,and if you know your plants then it iss quite safe.But you must NEVER eat anything that you are not 100% sure of.For more info Horse and Country tv show a program on Foraging for Food,just thought you might be interested.

Slainte Mhath

[Stewy]

Originally Posted by wild woodsman

For more info Horse and Country tv show a program on Foraging for Food,just thought you might be interested.

Do you know what it's called and what time it's on?

[wild woodsman]

Howya Stewy,Foragers Field,Wednesday@15.00 repeated at 19.30,enjoy.

Slainte Mhath.

[Stewy]

Cheers