mmmmm fresh roadkill

[bushwacker bob]

does anyone actually eat roadkill? or anyone any idea what the law on collecting road kill is? I passed a dead muntjac and a dead roe on a back road to winchester this week.I returned along the same route about an hour later and both had been taken.Not into eating roadkill myself,but these two large pieces of meat obviously had a value to someone :evil: :?: :-?

 

[al]

i think the score is if you hit it you cant keep it as you would then get people using their vehicles as weapons but if you`re in the car behind you can fill your boots and your freezer :-D

 

[alick]

if you hit it you cant keep it ... :-D

Sorry, I'm a fussy b***d. If I didn't hit it, I wouldn't want it ! Lord knows how, what, why, where, when and how long it could have been lying there ! :-D
Cheers

 

[al]

well i`m a veggie so do road kill carrots that fell off the farmers trailer count ? :-D

 

[steve a]

At the wilderness gathering this question came up, I think it was Jack who said don't pick up any Deer unless you or your saw it hit as if the deer was only injured often a vet is called out who will inject the deer with lethal poison but they are not obliged to remove the deer from the roadside.

 

[george]

I've eaten roadkill deer on a number of occasions - but be careful. The impact of a car hitting the beast can cause all sorts of nasties. Watch out for shards of needle like bone in the meat. you can find them often in meat quite far from the actual impact spot. if the gut has been ruptured most of the meat will be tainted. If the bowel has been damaged then again the meat will be tainted. If the blood on the road isn't fresh then I'd leave it. Meat from a deer that hasn't been gralloched and has been lying even for a few hours tastes awful - I think it's probably to do with gut and bowel bacteria.

If I find a roadkill deer and I'm sure it's fresh I'll usually just take the back legs off it - as long as the impact was at the front end.

We don't have the Vet and poison problem up here so I'm not worried about that but I do hate to see perfectly good meat going to waste.

George

 

[Gary]

YEP me too - just be careful when approaching animals as I have seen two deer leap up after being hit - looked dead were obviously just stunned.

 

[Roving Rich]

Yep, I've eaten a bit of roadkill. Skinning and gutting deer is a bit like a post mortem, to find out what killed it. I believe it was Drew of Survival School that set vets inject em with pethidrin. I have never heard this anywhere else so it remains unconfirmed as far as I am concerned.
Huge Furry whippingtool is quite up for road kill and discusses it in a couple of his books.
Basically it has gotta be fresh, no maggots, no smell. Preferably still warm before rigamortis. :roll:
I have had to despatch a bunny i hit and a pheasant the car infront hit already this month. Still didn't go to waste eh.
Cheers
Rich

 

[woodsitter]

Yea, these peasants make nasty dents in your car, can't realy eat them tho

 

[Roving Rich]

You ought to watch out for those Revolting Peasant :twisted:
Rich

 

[woodsitter]

When thei are dead for a while, then they get really revolting :-?

 

[boaty]

I (accidently!) cycled over a rat on the way to work the other day - had to finish it off by hand since it was still twitching :shock:

 

[Roving Rich]

Mmmm Lunch ?

 

[MartiniDave]

Boaty,

Be careful handling rats, wash your hands very well. The things carry wiels (sp) disease, which is far from pleasant and can be fatal. Take care mate.

Dave

 

[boaty]

Boaty,

Be careful handling rats, wash your hands very well. The things carry wiels (sp) disease, which is far from pleasant and can be fatal. Take care mate.

Dave

Thanks Dave - I was wearing gloves as it was early morning and a bit chilly.

One of our cats is a champion ratter, so I try and make sure I'm the first one there with a shovel to collect the "presents" she brings!

|'m probably more likely to get Weils while rowing on our slow-moving river though :yikes:

 

[RJP]

As a bushcrafty vet perhaps I can spread some light on this.
If the animal (usually deer) is dead from impact it wouldn't get injected.
If it is seriously injured we might inject the deer or we might shoot it (however many vets who shoot them take them home for the freezer!)
If injecting we would usually use barbiturate which is pretty nasty stuff so to conclude I wouldn't eat it unless:
1) You saw it hit.
2) You can see a bullet hole in the head.

Hope this helps, no vet wants poisoned bushcrafters on his conscience!

Cheers,
RJP.

 

[Roving Rich]

:shock: :AR15firin
Oh Deer, guess i better steer clear of road kill then
Do you get called out to deal with these often? Or is it rare when someone is in a state or thepolice have called you. Is there much room left in your freezer?
Cheers
Rich

 

[RJP]

I personally don't get called often but colleagues in large animal practice get about one a year. Hence the freezer is a bit empty. Police or drivers call.
Cheers,
Rob.

 

[george]

YEP me too - just be careful when approaching animals as I have seen two deer leap up after being hit - looked dead were obviously just stunned.

About 2 years ago one of the local worthys around here came across a red deer stag tangled in a broken fence. It looked pretty much the worse for wear - must have been in there all night and had thrashed itself around a bit.

Rather than give the local deer stalker a call, who would have shot it and put it out its misery, he decided he would try to free it. Well I'm sure you can work out what happened next - as he approached, the stag made a miraculous recovery, opened up said local worthy's leg with an antler, broke free from the remains of the fence and ran for the hills.

Being more than 2 hours from the nearest hospital it was all a bit touch and go whether there would be serious permanent damage to the guys leg. Nerve endings severed, tendon and ligament damage etc. etc. It took a long time for him to recover and hopefully taught him not to approach a trapped and frightened beast like that again (it certainly taught me!!)

As a follow up, a stag was found dead a few hundred metres from the fence a couple of days later - looked like it had died shortly after breaking free.

Nasty things antlers.

George

 

[woodsitter]

It might not count as roadkill, but...