To the waters and the wild

[Tubetec]

As a contingency measure I'm taking some time to study up on bushcraft .
Theres many ingenious inventions out there that can help you put food on the table .
Another plus is most of what you'll see was made pre outbreak, so no reference to the dreaded disease, even if there is the odd reference to doomsday scenarios.

Heres a video I found which shows you how to make an avian trap. Its easy ,should take less than an hour .
I was able to do the job with just 8 screws by wrapping, folding and twisting the chicken wire around the frame , the trigger mech takes a little time to perfect,but its really quite sensitive. I have it set up now ,but only for test purposes, the other thing is the quarry is unharmed so can be returned to the wild if its a jackdaw or a crow . Im lucky to have quite a few pheasents  in the vicinity , most days I see and hear them in my garden . It would be with a heavy heart Id take one of those beautifull creatures and wring its neck ,still at some point the need to eat would take priority over preciousness. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvKD6VkoUos

 

[Squeaky]

The guy in the clip sounds a bit like what I imagine a British poacher might sound like (even if he does have a disclaimer). That trigger mechanism is very clever. I'm glad that he let the hen go (always let the hens go).

I sincerely hope that you never need knowledge of bush craft to survive, good stuff to learn though, at least in my opinion. If you find pheasants difficult to knock off, then perhaps you should target what Woody Allen called "rats with wings"? The humble pigeon is perhaps suitably ugly to kill without having feelings of remorse? I'm sure there is an interesting (or perhaps not so interesting) philosophical question lurking somewhere in there about death and beauty.  I had pigeon in Beijing once (5 spice BBQ sort of thing), it was sensational.

I put my bush craft to good use the evening before the lock down commenced over here in NZ. I was lucky enough to knock over a spiker (young male sika deer). I field dressed it, and carried the whole thing out (I also bagged the heart, liver and kidneys). As expected, I shot it right at the furthest extent of my walk (further to carry the bloody thing back). However, I wasn't letting any of it go to waste. I've even salted the hide for future tanning (it is difficult to get the chemicals at the moment). So far we've had venison pie, venison stir fry, venison steaks, and venison parmigiana. I slow cooked one of the shoulders and made a sauce with wild blackberries to go with it (a couple of cups of blackberries, used a bit of chicken stock, balsamic, red wine and sage, reduced, sieved and thickened with a little starch). Venison seems to pair well with slightly sweet sauces.  I'm going to smoke some of the ribs pretty soon.

At the moment we're not allowed to go hunting or fishing, or any other "risky" activity like surfing, swimming or bush walking. This is so we don't put any unnecessary strain on emergency services.

Cheers, Nick.

 

[Tubetec]

The Pigeon pie Ive had alright ,north African style , its like a dessert cake , sweet with cinnamon, didnt seem as though I was eating meat at all really , more like christmas pudding or mince pies .

No fishing hunting or surfing thats f***king preposterous , theres a touch of 'nanny goat' about yer one alright  , miss goodie two shoes  ;D

No luck with the trap so far , looks like the smaller birds are cleaning out the bait on me , pheasents are wary of my garden due my pair of land piranhas (terriers), Ive seen them snatch our feathered friends out of the sky . They take an ocassional juvenile bunny or pheasent . Its funny ,the male instinctively knows to pluck the birds breast and spit out the feathers to get to the good stuff, the female dog just hoards her quarry and growls , hasnt the first clue what to do with it , eventually she gives up and the nutty mutt finishes the clean up operation .

There is a touch of woodland hobbit about JJR alright , definately not your common or garden variety.
Up to the 1950's here ,before the building of two hyrdoelectric dams on a section of river was the Lee delta , a network of channels and swamp . Back in the days of empire anything in a hat and uniform was buying a one way ticket venturing in there.
Theres the remains of a large barracks and gun powder mill just before you get into the boonies, back in the early 20's the IRA snuk in when all the soldiers were drunkened , placed stinking fish carcases into the soldiers woolen tunics , by the time monday morning came the uniforms were riddled with maggots , the effect on moral was so devastating hundreds of men had to have their asses kicked and be sent back to home to their mammies . Even though the swamp was drained around 70 years ago the independence of spirit and distinct lack of courtesy towards the forces of law and order remains .

'Fee fi fo fum I smell the blood of an Englishman , be he alive or be he dead ,I'll grind his bones to make my bread '
an old and somewhat jaded saying you wont hear much anymore around here ,
unless your partial to the workingmans pint that is.

Sincerest and best to you Nick.

 

[Tubetec]

Major bummer ,
I returned from my dog run ,
before I could even look at the trap
bang, my male dog had a juvenile magpie in his mouth ,
one squawk and it was all over ,
at least it was a quick end ,

Up close that birds plumage was astonishingly beautiful ,
law of unintended consequences is a real *****.


Great Spirit Prayer

Oh, Great Spirit,
Whose voice I hear in the winds
and whose breath gives life to all the world.
Hear me! I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes
ever hold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand
the things you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
in every leaf and rock.

Help me remain calm and strong in the
face of all that comes towards me.
Help me find compassion without
empathy overwhelming me.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,
but to fight my greatest enemy: myself.
Make me always ready to come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.

Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark  1887
:'(

 

[Squeaky]

Looking at the long game, I think that our Missy is preening herself for a UN position - sheseems all about PR and her image (probably cynical of me, but I think she has spent a lot of time over the last couple of years traveling around the world selling the Missy package). She is a protégé of another politician who tried to go all the way to the top of the UN. Missy definitely has that UN "we know what is best for you" feel about her.

Thanks for posting the prayer, it was appreciated.

Shame about the magpie, I quite like magpies. They are prevalent here, our local rugby team is called the magpies. They are cheeky buggers but smart birds. They could be a hazard when I was living in Australia, the ones that had had run-ins with people used to dive bomb you.

The thing that bothers me most about the lock down is the lack of an off-leash area to run my dog. He is a setter from working dog lines and he has to have a run every day (or he will drive you mad). He needs a real run in open country. They have closed the local dog park and closed off the council land margins of the local rivers (in case you trip on a pebble and stub your toe I guess). Rules made for the lowest common denominator.  I guess it is always this way.

 

[Tubetec]

Just so the life of the magpie wasnt thrown away in vein I said I might as well post a few further thoughts .

First lesson I learned from it was ,unless I get to the trap in good time , a predator ,my dog ,or potentially another hungry person  might run off with the catch , thats no good .  I shared the trap making video with a few of my good ole boy hick/neck friends online , one guy who lives in Maine came up with a gem of an idea , use a wireless door bell as an alarm ,simple to do ,genius. Should work over a few hundred yards ,but if needs be the transmitter part could be located up a tree and the switch connected by wire . There's also now wireless door bells where the base unit via wifi sends your smart phone an alert , I don't use mobile phones but still it could be a handy feature for some people. 
Ding-Dong ,theres your dinner

I had initially bagged up Mr Magpies remains and binned it ,but inspired by the native American prayer I decided I could do a little better than that , Im fairly well aquainted with a fox who does the rounds in the surrounding area so I put the remains of the bird just down wind of a spot where the fox takes his afternoon sun , he's sure to find my offering .

Interesting Squeaky and thanks again for sharing your impressions .

 

[cyrano]

Catching pheasants is simple. Make a regular feeding place and give 'em some corn every few days. After a week or two, infuse the corn with some cheap booze. Feed them and you can pick 'em up by hand half an hour later.

I used to refer to pigeons as flying rats too. A lot of those are sick. But, according to a recent study, the Blackbirds everybody seems to love are much, much worse as disease carriers. The only thing is, they seem to have a very sturdy immune system, as they don't get sick. Knowing that, I'd rather eat pigeons, or even rats...

 

[Tubetec]

Raisins soaked in the poitín (Irish moonshine) might do it too . Its probably not a bad way to do it , the bird is so langers drunk theres no stress on the animal . In olden days here pigs before slaughter were given a mix of hard liquor and porridge oats  , they lay down and had the jugular knicked with a sharp knife , the blood was collected in a bucket , while the pig slipped out of conciousness with no stress at all , probably way more humane than modern factory method .

 

[Squeaky]

Catching pheasants is simple. Make a regular feeding place and give 'em some corn every few days. After a week or two, infuse the corn with some cheap booze. Feed them and you can pick 'em up by hand half an hour later.

I used to refer to pigeons as flying rats too. A lot of those are sick. But, according to a recent study, the Blackbirds everybody seems to love are much, much worse as disease carriers. The only thing is, they seem to have a very sturdy immune system, as they don't get sick. Knowing that, I'd rather eat pigeons, or even rats...

All this drugging of animals reminds me of the Roald Dahl story that was one of my favourites as a young lad.

I'm not sure I could eat city pigeons, or any scabrous unhealthy animal for that matter (depends on how hungry you are doesn't it?). I think that the local pigeons (I think they are actually rock doves) that gorge themselves in the surrounding maize fields could be well worth a shot though.

Not sure if it is true, but I have heard that song birds, like blackbirds and thrushes, are almost extinct in France. They are not on the menu here and thrive locally. I read about the French method of eating them (with the towel thrown over the head to hide the shame I suppose).

 

[cyrano]

Not sure if it is true, but I have heard that song birds, like blackbirds and thrushes, are almost extinct in France. They are not on the menu here and thrive locally. I read about the French method of eating them (with the towel thrown over the head to hide the shame I suppose).

There's at least one species that's been eaten to extinction: the ortolan. It was commonly eaten in every inn, centuries ago. Order a beer, get a plate of roasted ortolans with it to nibble on.

AFAIK blackbirds were never on the menu. Maybe our ancestors knew they weren't safe to eat?

Thrushes are still on the menu these days, as some years they are considered a pest. They're certainly not extinct.

But it's a slowly dying local custom, just like eating "water rabbit", muskrat. Muskrat isn't a real rat and it's good to eat, if it came from clean water. Muskrat isn't native. It's a pest that started during WWII, when the Germans arrested the owner of a muskrat farm, just a few miles from where I live. As the animals weren't fed anymore, they broke out and conquered large parts of Europe in the following years.

That French culinary habit is still around in at least one exclusive restaurant. The towel is there not to hide the shame, but to hide the eating itself from other guests. The bird is served with feathers and innards after being drowned in cognac. It's left in the cognac for at least a night, after which it's covered in a thin dough layer and roasted fast. All is supposed to be eaten, even the bones. I don't know which species are used these days, as ortolans are extinct and the practice has been outlawed. Maybe bunting?

The impact of that peculiar habit will be very small on the numbers of a species anyway.

 

[Squeaky]

Thanks Cyrano, that was a very interesting (and informative) read. Particularly thanks for clearing up my knowledge around songbird cuisine.

I knew it wasn't shame, I was just having a little dig at French culinary habits, which truth be told for the most part I greatly admire.

An unusual local food in NZ is mutton bird, which was traditionally eaten by the Maori. You can buy it at some seafood stores. In my opinion it roughly tastes what you would expect a seagull to taste like. Much better is whitebait, which are tiny little translucent fish which you cook up with eggs to make fritters.

I would certainly give "water rabbit" a try.

 

[Tubetec]

James and the giant peach ,I think was the book you refered too , I did read it once ,long long time ago . Tranqulisers I think they used .

I have heard of that French thing with the whole bird , they put a baby bird in a box with a small hole in the lid , the bird thinks the light is falling and pecks up seeds until its belly is full , its then drowned in cognac ,and cooked and eaten whole , I think its been made ileagal by the EU on the grounds of cruelty ,but it probably does still happen to a limited extent at least, not something Id even consider trying , the fois gras is another thing , its goose liver pate ,but there some sort of force feeding invloved .

 

[mjrippe]

Had fois gras when I was in France for a wedding.  Delicious.  But yes, they force feed the geese to make the liver fatty.  Also had boeuf tartare on that trip which was excellent.  The waiter came out to check on us because "Americans don't order that"!

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I had pigeon once, at my uncle's, who was a farmer (paysan, as we said then).
He was specific, never ate adult pigeon, because the muscles are too hard. He took me to hunt baby pigeons, that he shot in the nest. I thought it was very cruel and terribly unbalanced - but after all not much more than killing male chicks by chopping them alive...
I ate the pigeons later, it was very good. Most of us humans do not make the connection between a piece of meat in a plate and a living animal. Those who do become vegetarians, I guess...
Recent studies have shown that half of our intelligence is located in the stomach; it seems our behaviour tends to demonstrate that  ;D

 

[Tubetec]

I did try the fois gras once , in general I will try a bit of liver pate now and then ,but the fois gras ,nah I didnt like it , almost what Id imagine 'head cheese' might taste like. The steak tartare even though probably quite nutricious Ive avoided thus far, I just dont think store bought mince/ground beef would be a good idea to eat raw  . Just as well theres plenty of other great stuff on the French classics menu , some of my all time favs are Salad Niceoise, an amazingly well balanced meal in itself ,the Boeuf Bourginon, beef, mushrooms, bacon, onions and bottle of red wine (among other things) a great hearty meal with big flavour , all served with crusty light and airy bread ,fine dining indeed .

Many good reasons to be warey of wild meats of either ground dwelling or airborne species, many parasitic organisms are endemic as well as bacteria and viruses as we now know. Empirical knowledge related to diet thats trickled down through the sands of time is rarely wrong. Taking  pigeons young wouldnt only be more tender ,but much much less likely to contain nasty from the ground , or in the modern era man made environmental toxins.

I cant remember where I read it but the Chinese diet tends towards very well cooked meats , thats especially important for wild caught ,as it will kill or destroy any parasitic or microbiological nasties that may have hitched a ride along the way , depending on method it may also help remove accumulated toxins either naturally occuring or man made .

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I did try the fois gras once , in general I will try a bit of liver pate now and then ,but the fois gras ,nah I didnt like it , almost what Id imagine 'head cheese' might taste like.

Head cheese and foie gras have absolutely nothing in common, neither in taste nor in consistency.
Each one his own but I think foie gras is less an acquired taste than head cheese.
I know people who don't like foie gras, because of an improper experience.
Foie gras is usally preserved in a verrine filled with a mixture of duck fat and oil.
These people thought the foie gras should be eaten with the fat and of course, it's disgusting.
Also it happens that foie gras is too bitter. There are two main centers for foie gras in France, one is the southwest, the other is Alsace.
In the SW they completely remove any gall, but in Alsace, they leave a tiny drop of gall, which gives foie gras a particular aroma and taste. Of course it needs to be perfectly dosed, but it happens some time to be missed.

 

[Tubetec]

I cant say Ive ever tried head cheese , so I'll have to take your word for it Abbey
Maybe there is some truth to what you said about 50% of our brain being in our belly , there certainly seems to be strong  two way communication via neural networks connecting both organs. 

 

[cyrano]

I have heard of that French thing with the whole bird , they put a baby bird in a box with a small hole in the lid , the bird thinks the light is falling and pecks up seeds until its belly is full , its then drowned in cognac ,and cooked and eaten whole , I think its been made ileagal by the EU on the grounds of cruelty ,but it probably does still happen to a limited extent at least, not something Id even consider trying , the fois gras is another thing , its goose liver pate ,but there some sort of force feeding invloved .

I don't think there's any feeding involved. Or baby birds. They catch small birds for it. And it's France itself that outlawed it, long before the EU even noticed the habit.

The one reason it still hasn't died out, is money. Since it's illegal now, it's consumed at very high prices in small private restaurant rooms. Profit still rules the world.

 

[cyrano]

Had fois gras when I was in France for a wedding.  Delicious.  But yes, they force feed the geese to make the liver fatty.  Also had boeuf tartare on that trip which was excellent.  The waiter came out to check on us because "Americans don't order that"!

It used to be foie gras was rare, because of it being made of geese liver from animals that had an overgrown liver. No force feeding involved.

Unfortunately, the market demanded more. So some people found out the nealy all geese develop an overgrown (sick) liver when fed too much. Industrialise that and you get awful cruelty.

Before, the geese were primarily bred for their fat, not their meat.

If a restaurant serves goose, you'll get it with an oversized napkin, about as big as a tent, to catch all of the fat dripping of your mouth and chin. It's delicious, even if unusually fat.

 

[mjrippe]

Duck too has a lot of rich, delicious fat.  I had the duck confit at a French restaurant here in Brooklyn and was honestly a bit nauseous by the end because it was so rich.  If you ever go to a restaurant that serves potatoes fried in duck fat (fries, chips, whatever you like to call them) I would recommend trying them!