Road Kill

[Pat]

Have any of you heard on the radio or read in the newspaper about the man frpm Cornwall who lives on road kill? Apparently he goes out a couple of times a week and picks up animals that have been run over squirrels Badgers Rabbits birds and even rats!! he says at least he knows where the meat has come from, more than you can say about supermarket meat and it's far more tasty and it's free. If you've got the stomach for it I suppose he's right. And to top it all his wife is a vegetarian He's now writing a book about it with some recipes

[digi]

Yes, and the women that picked up a dead Pheasant and put it on the back seat of her car. As she drove down the motorway the Pheasant came to life and wrecked the interior of her car as well as scaring her to near death.

Not recommended.

[Jonny]

Originally Posted by digi

Yes, and the women that picked up a dead Pheasant and put it on the back seat of her car. As she drove down the motorway the Pheasant came to life and wrecked the interior of her car as well as scaring her to near death.

Not recommended.

This happened to someone I know who hit a deer and must of just stunned it. He put it in the back of his range rover and it came too while he was driving along, imagine that. He took it to an abattoir (had to look that word up in the dictionary) and is now selling the meat. He does run a smallholding and sells meat etc anyway...................Jon

[nightshade]

On Amazon USA there has been for many years The Road Kill Cookbook
and of course The Road Kill Colouring Book
I have often wondered about picking up carcases of pheasant duck and Rabbit
etc.I did stop and size up a deer which had just been killed (they would all have to have been killed in my sight) but it would have ruined the interior!
It does seem such a waste, but if placed on the verge I would expect a lot of foxes, buzzards,and others to benefit rather than let it be ground into the tarmac

[Fourwings]

I've eaten road kill victims, but only as nightshade says if I've actually seen them get killed, never fancied anything thats lay there for long, you only have to see how quickly things begin to de-compose, especially in Summer.

I prefer my food without fly eggs / maggots!

[Helen]

May I also suggest something.

If you do come across roadkill, and it is clearly very dead indeed, if you are next to a field, pick it up and put it on the edge of the field, this will ensure other wildlife can have a decent dinner whilst reducing their chances of getting killed on the road too. I'm thinking more of birds etc that come down for roadkill.

[Pat]

Originally Posted by Helen

May I also suggest something.

If you do come across roadkill, and it is clearly very dead indeed, if you are next to a field, pick it up and put it on the edge of the field, this will ensure other wildlife can have a decent dinner whilst reducing their chances of getting killed on the road too. I'm thinking more of birds etc that come down for roadkill.

Good thinking Helen, I'll keep that in mind.

[digi]

Originally Posted by Helen

May I also suggest something.

If you do come across roadkill, and it is clearly very dead indeed, if you are next to a field, pick it up and put it on the edge of the field, this will ensure other wildlife can have a decent dinner whilst reducing their chances of getting killed on the road too. I'm thinking more of birds etc that come down for roadkill.

Its a good point, but please take care if you do this we don't want any more road kills.

[John]

Originally Posted by Helen

May I also suggest something.

If you do come across roadkill, and it is clearly very dead indeed, if you are next to a field, pick it up and put it on the edge of the field, this will ensure other wildlife can have a decent dinner whilst reducing their chances of getting killed on the road too. I'm thinking more of birds etc that come down for roadkill.

Excellent suggestion Helen.

[Helen]

Thanks John.

I actually followed my own advice a week or so ago. One of the very young muntjac was run over, and was in the middle of the road, right on a particularly dangerous bend.

I picked it up and placed it on the edge of our driveway in a relatively safe place, before long, I saw the buzzard and kites milling round it.

[John]

Originally Posted by Helen

Thanks John.

I actually followed my own advice a week or so ago. One of the very young muntjac was run over, and was in the middle of the road, right on a particularly dangerous bend.

I picked it up and placed it on the edge of our driveway in a relatively safe place, before long, I saw the buzzard and kites milling round it.

Photo shoot comes to mind. lol

[pheonix]

i have heard of an old law that makes it illegal to pick up a pheasant that you have run over yourself? its so people didnt do it on purpose

sounds a bit far fetched to me but never say never

[wildone]

That goes for any game, hares deer etc.

[nightshade]

I am told that people with ferrets sometimes accept roadkills to feed their animals on

[wildone]

Originally Posted by pheonix

i have heard of an old law that makes it illegal to pick up a pheasant that you have run over yourself? its so people didnt do it on purpose

sounds a bit far fetched to me but never say never

That does not stop a following car from picking up the road killed game and taking it home to eat. Yes I believe the thinking behind the law was just that, so that people didn't do it on purpose.

[pheonix]

oh cool, i allways thought it was a bit of an old wives tale!

[Eileen]

We quite often see wildlife rescue centres out with their vans picking up roadkill. Makes sense to feed their patients on this type of meat rather than tinned supermarket stuff.

[wildone]

And I would think far better for the patients as well. Certainly nearer to their natural diet.

[Lou-D]

Originally Posted by nightshade

I am told that people with ferrets sometimes accept roadkills to feed their animals on

I've been offered roadkill Rabbit for my ferrets before but turned it down as it looked a bit manky - I'll only use fresh kill for my animals. This is why I won't pick em up off the road. I prefer to get my Rabbits from our local Rabbit hunters - they're free and are usually gutted before I get them when dispatched professionally.

[StuartDH]

A friend of mine hit a deer on his way home from work a couple of years ago, but just as he was about the lift it into the back of his car a policeman arrived. He admitted that he'd hit the deer and so the copper told him to leave it - didn't want him standing in the middle of the road etc - "Be on your way and I'll sort it out".

Needless to say, he wasn't too chuffed that he'd had to hand over several good dinners to the local constabulary

[pheonix]

my dad hit a Muntjac Deer a few years ago, there was no chance of picking it up as it ran off, but it did untold damage to the car and ended up a right off, just show how tough the little blighters are!

[RobF]

Theres an urban myth about a guy in the states (where else!) who picked up a road-kill whitetail deer buck, it comes to while he's driving and he crashes the car into a tree, the angry wounded deer chases him out of the car and he takes refuge in a phone booth, the kerfuffle attracts coyotes etc....

When I was a youth working with a gamekeeper, a driver had hit a Badger and put it in the boot of her car, it was only stunned and came around, trashing the boot and making a right stink! She brought it to us to extract it from under the seat!

Rob

[Turtletagger]

Unbelievable! Iv'e just found this thread and it's started by yourself Pat, the critique against my writing in the Grey Squirrel thread. Im'e not sure if I should relate my experiances with eating road kills in the Australian outback but seeing as you are curious about the subject I will first explain how I got started with my survival interests. I was a Ventura Scout Leader and in my charge were 21 youngsters between the ages of 11 to 18, 9 of them being girls. We would go camping into the wild outback and it was at that time I got interested in the survival subject. The youngsters were very enthusiastic participants. I think I could write a book on what we got up to those days. Sadly I could'nt write it here, what with you being so squeemish Pat.
Years later I became a drifter, a gypsy, a wanderer, a deadbeat. All I owned was my old 4x4 Jackaroo and swag. I wandered throughout the outback, living off the land, sleeping rough with just the stars shining down on me. Foraging for anything I could eat to keep alive. Guess what? Road Kills were in abundance, and I fed well, infact I put on weight in those days, especialy after I had eaten my fill off a large Goanna that was full of fat.
The biggest pest in Australia is the fly and it was a race to get to the carcases before they infested too much. Many a time I inspected a kill only to find it heaving with maggots. I remember as a child my mother hanging a phesant on the coal-house door in the sun and I watched the wings slowly fall down as the rigormortice left the body and then mother would pluck it and we ate it for dinner.
Yummy Roadkills.

[Kayleigh]

I watched a programme (River Cottage) where Hugh Farnley Whittingstow (I think thats what his name is) Stopped to pick up a road kill to feed one of his animals. He said always smell it. If it smells fresh then its ok to eat.

I think I will keep using my butcher..But each to their own..