Sponsor

2015/04/13

Neatorama

Neatorama

Cooking with Roadkill

Posted: 13 Apr 2015 05:00 AM PDT

The following is an article from the book Uncle John’s Perpetually Pleasing Bathroom Reader. Note: although there are plenty of images of roadkill available, we opted to not use them in this article.

(Imge credit: Thomas R Machnitzki/CC)

Most of us simply keep on driving when we see a splattered ’possum on the side of the highway, but a peculiar few ask, “Why let all that free meat go to waste?”

CLEAR AND PHEASANT DANGER

One day in the 1950s, a 15-year-old British kid named Arthur Boyt found a dead pheasant on the ground while bicycling through a park near Windsor Castle. The creature piqued his curiosity, and he brought it home to show his mother. Mrs. Boyt responded in a way that might prompt a visit from a social worker today: She cooked the bird and told Arthur to eat it— not to teach him a lesson about the dangers of bringing home dead things, but because pheasants are game birds and good to eat.

Young Arthur happily ate the bird. Now in his seventies, he remembers the experience fondly. Boyt never lost his sense of wonder regarding the natural world: He became an entomologist, someone who studies bugs. And he never lost his taste for eating dead critters hit by cars, either. As he grew older and became philosophically opposed to hunting (cruel) and farm-raised meats (cruel and unhealthy), he obtained more and more of his meat on the road. The last time he purchased a piece of store-bought meat: 1976. All the creatures he’s eaten since then— more than 5,000 animals in all— have been roadkill. Roast deer, spaghetti in hedgehog sauce, breast of barn owl, pheasant stew, pigeon pot pie, badger sandwiches (his favorite), you name it— if a car can hit it, Boyt has probably eaten it. He even eats rats, which he insists are delicious stewed. “People say rats carry disease, but I’d sooner eat a country rat than any raw meat you get served in restaurants,” he told The Times of London in 2003.

IN THE STATES

Boyt isn’t alone. In the United States, more than a dozen states allow the collecting of roadkill for food, and the number is growing. In 2011, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn vetoed a bill legalizing the collecting of roadkill from the state’s highways, fearing that people might themselves become roadkill while trying to drag critters off the asphalt. But the bill was so popular that the state legislature voted 87– 28 to override the veto, and the bill is now law.

The rules regarding collecting roadkill vary. In some states, a permit is required; in others, carcasses may be collected only during hunting season. Reason: Officials want to discourage “bumper hunting”— deliberately running down game animals at times of the year when shooting them would be illegal. In Alaska, food banks, homeless shelters, and other charities get first dibs on meat from the more than 800 moose killed by cars and trains each year. (One adult moose yields as much as 700 pounds of meat.)

KIDS, DON’T FRY THIS AT HOME

If you’re thinking about taking the plunge, it’s important to know that handling and eating roadkill can kill you if you don’t know what you’re doing. Just because that tasty-looking raccoon died when it was hit by a car doesn’t mean it didn’t have rabies. If you’re not experienced at handling wild game meat, it’s not worth the risk. That being said, here are some safety tips from the pros:

• Know the animal and the parasites and diseases it suffers from. Know the visible signs of these maladies, so that you can distinguish healthy animals from sick ones.

• Wear goggles and thick rubber gloves when handling roadkill and preparing the meat for cooking. This is necessary to prevent blood (which may be disease-infected) from getting into your eyes and cuts in your skin. After working with the animal, thoroughly wash your hands and any blood-stained clothing immediately.

• Best time to look for roadkill: early in the morning. Many nocturnal animals are hit by cars when they come out at night, and road crews are unlikely to pick them up until the next day. Cooler temperatures after dark help prevent the meat from spoiling.

• Refrigerate raw meat immediately. Be sure to cook the meat to an internal temperature of at least 170 ° to kill bacteria.

• Only undamaged meat is edible, so look for animals killed by “clean hits,” i.e., critters that were struck once, thrown to the side of the road by the impact, and not hit again. Animals that have been run over and squashed flat (“ road pizza”) are inedible.

• Select only “fresh” roadkill— animals that have been hit by cars very recently. Evaluate them like fresh fish at the market. Is the animal’s nose still moist? Are its eyes full and clear? Does it bleed bright red blood freely when you cut into its skin? These are signs of freshness. If it smells bad or rigor mortis has set in, leave it be.

• That’s one school of thought, anyway. “I have consumed meat that was blown up, like horses on the Western Front (World War I),” Arthur Boyt told The Times. “If bodies are swollen, gasified, and green, they do taste different, but if you cook them thoroughly, you can still eat them. I have done it and had no repercussions.”

SMORGASBROAD

So what do roadkill animals taste like? Here’s a sampling:

Fox: Mild and salty, with little or no fat and a nice texture. (But it can make you burp.)

Rabbit: Bland.

Buffalo: High in protein, low in cholesterol, and half the calories and fat of beef, with a similar taste. Use in any beef recipe.

Swan: Unpleasant and muddy-tasting.

Ostrich: Tastes like venison and should be prepared as such. Best sautéed or grilled medium-rare.

Pheasant: A rich flavor similar to chicken, which is improved if the bird is refrigerated, unplucked, for three days.

Rat: A salty taste like ham or pork. Good in stir-fries.

Frog: Flavor and texture similar to chicken. Also good stir-fried.

Bear: A strong taste that can be improved by refrigerating the meat for 24 hours. Good in pot roasts and stews; prepare like beef.

Goose: Dark meat that tastes like roast beef.

Pigeon: Meat that’s “dark, rich, tender, and succulent,” and good roasted, broiled, braised (fried, then stewed), grilled or sautéed. Serve medium-rare, or the meat will taste like liver.

Hedgehog: Fatty, with an unpleasant taste. Boar: Flavor ranges from mild to pungent, depending on the boar’s age, diet, and the season of the year that it was hit by the car.

Here are a few mouth-watering recipes for you to try.

RACCOON FRICASSEE

Find, skin, and gut a fresh, dead raccoon. Remove and discard any fat or damaged meat. Rinse the good meat in water and cut into eight to ten pieces. Rub with salt and pepper to taste, then roll in flour. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a skillet and brown meat on all sides. Add 2 cups of chicken broth. Cover, then simmer for two hours. Serves about eight, depending on the size of the raccoon and how badly it was damaged when hit by the car.

STUFFED SQUIRREL

Find, skin, and gut a fresh, dead squirrel. Remove and discard damaged meat, then rinse the rest of the squirrel in water. Lay the carcass on a large sheet of foil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic salt, and onion salt to taste. Combine ¾ cup of chopped onion, 2 stalks of chopped celery, and 1 teaspoon of dried parsley. Stuff the mixture into the squirrel and place the extra around the outside. Tightly roll the squirrel in the foil like a burrito and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 ° for 35 to 45 minutes. Serves one.

CHICKEN-FRIED RATTLESNAKE

Find a fresh, dead rattlesnake. If the head hasn’t already been run over, cut it off about four inches behind the head. (Wear heavy gloves, and dispose of the head carefully in a sealed container! A newly dead, still-venomous head can continue to deliver venom for an hour or more.) Hang the body of the snake by the rattles and allow the blood to drain out. Using a knife, make a cut down the length of the belly, then peel skin off starting at the head end. Discard skin (or tan it to use as a hatband). Discard internal organs and damaged meat. Rinse the good meat in fresh water and cut into pieces four inches long. Set aside. Beat 1 egg in a bowl and combine with ½ cup of milk; set aside. In a bowl, mix ¾ cup of flour with ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper. Dip snake pieces into the egg/ milk mixture, then dredge them in the flour mixture and deep-fry until golden brown. Serves one.

ROAST ’POSSUM

(Image credit: Flickr user sgodt chumbucket)

Find, skin, and gut a fresh, dead opossum and set the liver aside. Remove damaged meat. Rinse the rest of the carcass in cold water, then boil in a large pot for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from water, pat dry. Rub the opossum with salt and pepper; set aside. Brown one chopped onion in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, then add the liver. Cook until tender. Combine with 1 cup bread crumbs, ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 chopped hard-boiled egg, and 1 teaspoon salted water. Stuff mixture into the opossum, then place the opossum in a roasting pan. Pour a can of cream of mushroom soup over it, and lay eight to ten strips of bacon over the soup. Pour a cup of red wine over the bacon. Bake, covered, in a preheated oven at 350 ° until done and an instant-read thermometer reads at least 170 °. Cooking time: 2– 3 hours, depending on the size of the opossum.

BEAVER LOAF

Find a place where a beaver is likely to cross a road and look for a fresh, dead beaver there. Skin and gut the beaver; remove meat from the carcass. Discard damaged meat, then rinse and grind the good meat in a meat grinder. Combine 4– 5 cups of the ground meat with 1 chopped onion, ½ cup of tomato paste, 2 beaten eggs, ½ cup of corn flakes, and 2 teaspoons of soy sauce. Add salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste. Shape into a loaf, place in a greased loaf pan, and bake at 350 ° until an instant-read thermometer reads at least 170 ° (about 2 hours).

BEAR JERKY

Find, skin, and gut a fresh, dead bear. (Make sure the bear really is dead before you try to skin it.) Remove and discard any damaged meat. Cut four pounds of good meat from the bear and then cut it into strips across the grain. (Refrigerate or freeze the remaining 200– 1,000 pounds of good meat.) Fill a large bowl with 1 quart water, ¼ cup curing salt, ½ cup brown sugar, and black pepper and garlic powder to taste. Marinate the bear strips in the refrigerator for 8– 10 hours. Remove the meat, pat dry, and allow to air-dry for one hour. Dry in a smoker (preferably) or in an oven at a temperature between 150 ° and 200 °. Check for doneness after three hours. Refrigerate or freeze the jerky if you don’t eat it right away.

MOOSE STROGANOFF

Find, skin, and gut a fresh, dead moose. Remove meat from carcass; discard damaged meat. Rinse good meat in fresh water. Cut one pound of the good meat into one-inch cubes. (Refrigerate or freeze the rest of it.) Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to a skillet and cook meat until well done. Drain excess fat, then add 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 package brown gravy mix, and 1 package French onion soup mix to the skillet. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Serve over noodles. DOE SLOPPY JOES Find, skin, and gut a fresh, dead doe (or buck). Remove and discard any damaged meat; rinse the good meat in water. Grind two pounds of the good meat in a meat grinder and refrigerate or freeze the rest. Add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to a skillet. Brown the ground deer meat along with one large onion, chopped. Drain skillet if needed, then add 1 tablespoon of yellow mustard, three tablespoons of ketchup, ¾ cup of brown sugar, ½ cup of barbecue sauce, and hot sauce to taste. Simmer for 20 minutes. Serve on hamburger buns.

_______________________________

The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John’s Perpetually Pleasing Bathroom Reader. The 26th annual edition of Uncle John’s wildly successful series is all-new and jam-packed with the BRI’s patented mix of fun and information. Open up to any page and you may find an interesting origin (like the origin of the snowglobe) or a piece of obscure history (like the true story of the man who tried to repeal the law of gravity).

Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out!

K-9 Angels: Models on a Meaningful Mission

Posted: 13 Apr 2015 04:00 AM PDT

The Britain-based K-9 Angels are a trio of blond models dedicated to rescuing stray dogs. Yet these pretty ladies aren't just figureheads who have others do all the grunt work. Their efforts in "the trenches" of stray dog territory have saved 700 dogs thus far from terrible fates on the streets of Romania, Cyprus, Thailand and the UK, and they plan to expand the operation to include other countries.

The K-9 Angels was founded in 2011 by Pola Pospieszalska, television personality Anneka Svenska, and former Playboy model Victoria Eisermann. One of the main objectives of the group since its inception has been tackling the outcome of a 2013 Romanian law that made euthanasia legal in response to a stray dog problem. The Angels say the law has led to the killing of dogs in horrifying ways such as clubbing and being set on fire. Pospieszalska told the Daily Mail,

"Romania's stray dog situation is probably one of the worst in Europe and sad, neglected, hungry animals are a part of Romanian landscape... It is common in Romania for them not to use a euthanasia injection, but instead dispose of dogs in cheaper ways such as injecting paint thinner into the heart, strangling, and clubbing to death.

What an awful situation, and what a relief to know that this group is saving some of these dogs as well as calling worldwide attention to the problem.

Read more and see additional pictures and a video of the Angels here.

Via: The Daily Dot | Images: @TheK9Angels on Twitter
 

 

<i>Game of Thrones</i> Pancakes

Posted: 13 Apr 2015 03:00 AM PDT

Game of Thrones is finally back! Nathan Shields, the maestro of the pancake arts, is ready for the premier of the fifth season. For it, he prepared pancakes that look like the sigils of the major houses. I'm especially impressed with how he handled the delicate shapes in the three-headed dragon that represents House Targaryen. You can see how he made it by watching this video.

Milan’s Church of Bones

Posted: 13 Apr 2015 02:00 AM PDT

We’ve posted a few times about the creepy Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic, the Paris Catacombs, and the Capuchin monastery in Sicily, among other tombs. Now here’s another reliquary overflowing with the bones of hundreds of people.

The church that was later named San Bernardino alle Ossa in Milan, Italy, was built in the year 1269 near a hospital and an overflowing cemetery. The structure was just a regular church until it was damaged in 1642. As it was reconstructed, renowned sculptor Giovanni Andrea Biffi decorated it with the material at hand: deceased parishioner’s bones from the basement ossuary. San Bernardino alle Ossa has walls completely covered in skulls and bones, including one wall reportedly covered with only the remains of executed criminals. Read the story of this macabre chapel and see lots of photographs at Scribol.

(Image credit: Pullus In Fabula)

Brandy the Snowboarding Pug

Posted: 13 Apr 2015 01:00 AM PDT


(Video Link)

Brandy didn't choose the pug life. The pug life chose her.

While other dogs warm themselves by fireplaces and nap on carpeted floors or quilted beds, Brandy goes out into the wild. She experiences the harsh realities of her pug ancestors who lived without such comforts. It is only as the cold wind rushes past her face that she feels truly alive.

During the summer, when the snow is absent, she climbs onto her surfboard and hits the waves. Brandy knows how to live.

-via Tastefully Offensive

1,800-Year-Old Burial Site Thought to be Remains of Roman Gladiators

Posted: 13 Apr 2015 12:00 AM PDT

Image: Pollice Verso, 1872 painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, via Wikipedia

Scientists who've researched the contents of a burial site full of the 1,800-year-old remains of 80 male bodies believe them to be Roman gladiators. The skeletal remains, discovered in a residential garden in York, England, were found to have had muscles in their right arms that were much stronger than those in their left. The right arm strength was typical of men trained to be gladiators from an early age, according to early Roman texts. The skeletons were also found to have been decapitated, a typical procedure performed on gladiators defeated in the ring. 

Yet the most compelling evidence for the remains being of gladiators was the presence of bite marks from large carnivores, most probably lions but also possibly bears and tigers, which limited researchers to only one conclusion. The exciting find is the best preserved gladiator grave site, and has helped scholars immensely in terms of understanding more about the men and their sport.   

This is only one example of intriguing historical graveyard finds. Read about nine more such burial site discoveries here.

Astro - With Stars In His Eyes

Posted: 12 Apr 2015 10:00 PM PDT


Astro by Tobe Fonseca

There's a time to stay down to earth and grounded and there's a time to let your spirit soar, cutting yourself free of earthly connections so you can see what the universe has to offer. Some people work their way up to becoming an astronaut, while others are born with space dust in their blood, born to explore the cosmos and feeling mighty cooped up here on Earth...

Send spirits soaring with this Astro t-shirt by Tobe Fonseca, it's the far out way to show love for outer space and those amazingly heroic astronauts we all admire!

Visit Tobe Fonseca's Facebook fan page, official website, Tumblr and Twitter, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more fantastic designs:

GhostLove Peace and CarrotsGo Go GoHappy Birthday

View more designs by Tobe Fonseca | More Sci-Fi T-shirts | New T-Shirts

Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

Skeletal Jungle Gym

Posted: 12 Apr 2015 10:00 PM PDT


(Photo: unknown)

According to internet rumor, this jungle gym that looks like it is made of human skeletons is on the grounds of the Heilig-KreuzKirche, a church in Munich, Germany. It is attributed to German sculptor Peter Riss, who lives in Munich. I have been unable to verify this rumor through reliable sources.

-via The Soul Is Bone

Deaf Rappers Fight to be Heard

Posted: 12 Apr 2015 08:00 PM PDT

(YouTube link)

The song is “Vendetta” by Warren “Wawa” Snipe and DJ Nicar. Both are included in in the article Deaf Rappers Fight to be Heard in a Field Dominated by Sound. Wawa is deaf, and has been rapping since the late ‘80s. Rap producer Nicar is a hearing graduate of Gallaudet University who works with deaf rappers and DJs. The article also profiles rappers Prinz-D and Polar Bear, and tells of the impact deaf performers are making on the music scene. -via Metafilter

Old Age Insurance

Posted: 12 Apr 2015 06:00 PM PDT


(Lunarbaboon)

Pro tip for kids making these contracts: soylent green collection facilities are not nursing homes. Avoid getting specific about final outcomes when discussing long term care with your parents.

German Shepherd Mother Makes Puppy Take a Nap

Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:00 PM PDT



This tired German Shepherd mama is having a rest when her exuberant pup comes over and gets pesty. She obviously has had enough and thinks it's time to put the puppy down for a nap. Her herding instincts are on display as she guides him over to the bed and gives him her soundless, albeit effective, instructions. 

Via: Bark Post  

YouTube Link

A Visual Overview of Early Supercomputers

Posted: 12 Apr 2015 02:00 PM PDT

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
- Popular Mechanics (1949)

Computers have been around a long time: exactly how long depends on how you define “computer.” However, the development of computers took off big time in the past 100 years. Before transistors, they were incredibly massive, and before microchips they were too big for home use. Now just about everyone carries one around in their pocket. We’ve come a long way, baby. Dark Roasted Blend takes a look back at some of the famous early supercomputers -at least the ones that were photographed. Shown above is an IBM model from the 1960s that stored data on reels of tape. Yes, all that is one computer.

The Savage, Grunting World of Pro Arm Wrestling

Posted: 12 Apr 2015 12:00 PM PDT


(Video Link)

Only very briefly during this match does Brazilian champion Chris Teodoro De Souza use coherent words in a human language. Beyond that, she is only a grunting and roaring mound of muscle, rage, and victory.

Among the benefits of civilization are elegance and gentility. With them come a certain softness. De Souza has none of these. She has only the raw, animalistic power necessary to crush her enemies. It's a wondrous and beautiful thing.

Her howl of joy at 02:53 mark after destroying yet another opponent is spectacular. 

-via Weird Universe

A Monumental Day in the Fight Against Polio

Posted: 12 Apr 2015 10:00 AM PDT

Sixty years ago today, April 12, 1955, Dr. Thomas Francis of the University of Michigan made the announcement that a polio vaccine had been created. The nation immediately celebrated the life-changing news.

If it is difficult now to understand why that was so momentous, credit the vaccine announced that day, and another one revealed soon after. In the United States, polio killed or paralyzed thousands of children every summer. In 1952, the worst year on record, it attacked 58,000 American kids, closing pools and movie theaters, turning streets into ghost towns as families fled crowded cities for sparsely settled summer colonies where they imagined they would be more safe. Around the world, hundreds of thousands more every year were mowed down by it; in societies with few resources to treat the illness or support the disability that followed, they faced a lifetime of mistreatment and poverty.

Scientists had been working on the problem of polio for years, and while millions of vaccinations ended the terror of the disease in the U.S., it took decades to do so. Polio still exists in some parts of the world, and the battle to eradicate it continues. Mary McKenna of the science blog Germination talked to one of the pioneering “polio warriors,” Dr. John Sever. Sever knew both Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Albert Sabin, the inventors of two polio vaccines, and was the founder of Rotary International’s campaign against polio.

John Sever: I was working on a PhD in microbiology and an MD at Northwestern Medical School in the 1950s, so I was aware, of course, of polio. My father had been a practicing physician in the Chicago area, and I had a cousin who had polio paralysis of her legs, so it was very much a personal experience as well as professional. I remember that parents with newborns could buy “polio insurance” against the possibility their child would develop polio, so they could pay for the cost of care. It was on everyone’s mind, that children would be paralyzed and have to be in “iron lungs,” or die.

In the interview, he tells what those early days of polio vaccination were like and how it grew from an emergency measure to a global eradication project. Read the story of the polio breakthrough, and then take a minute to be thankful for the miracle of modern science.

(Image credit: CDC)

A Chimp is the Next Animal Species to Have Zero Drone Tolerance

Posted: 12 Apr 2015 08:00 AM PDT



In this video footage filmed at Burgers' Zoo in the Netherlands, a chimp has more frustration toward the annoying, buzzy thing in his face than he can shake a stick at. Fortunately, shaking a stick seems to eradicate the problem. The drone was killed, but the camera lived on to provide cautionary tales to other humans pulling the ol' drone trick on their captive animal species.

YouTube Link

Via Daily Dot | Screenshot via Burgers' Zoo/YouTube

This Chair Is Also a Lamp

Posted: 12 Apr 2015 07:00 AM PDT

Artist and designer Javier Mariscal developed the Sabinas Chair. It's an outdoor chair and also serves as a lamp. A remote control permits people to adjust the illumination. It will be on display by the furniture manufacturer Vondom at the Salone del Mobile show in Milan next week.

-via Contemporist

Dumb Ways to Die: <i>Game of Thrones</i> Edition

Posted: 12 Apr 2015 06:00 AM PDT

A couple of years ago, Metro Trains Melbourne released a safety PSA called Dumb Ways to Die, featuring a song by Tangerine Kitty that got stuck in our heads. Now that same song has a new animation by Egor Zhgun illustrating the many ways characters on the TV show Game of Thrones have died.

(YouTube link)

Although the Game of Thrones deaths are overwhelmingly murder, the accidents in the song fit some of them ridiculously well. Oh, yeah, this contains spoilers if you’re not current on the series. That’s why I used the screenshot above instead of a group picture. However, not all the characters in the group picture on the video are dead going into the fifth season of the series.  -via Viral Viral Videos

@

No comments:

Post a Comment

Keep a civil tongue.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Label Cloud

Technology (1464) News (793) Military (646) Microsoft (542) Business (487) Software (394) Developer (382) Music (360) Books (357) Audio (316) Government (308) Security (300) Love (262) Apple (242) Storage (236) Dungeons and Dragons (228) Funny (209) Google (194) Cooking (187) Yahoo (186) Mobile (179) Adobe (177) Wishlist (159) AMD (155) Education (151) Drugs (145) Astrology (139) Local (137) Art (134) Investing (127) Shopping (124) Hardware (120) Movies (119) Sports (109) Neatorama (94) Blogger (93) Christian (67) Mozilla (61) Dictionary (59) Science (59) Entertainment (50) Jewelry (50) Pharmacy (50) Weather (48) Video Games (44) Television (36) VoIP (25) meta (23) Holidays (14)

Popular Posts (Last 7 Days)