FOOD items ?

So there I stand in an old fishing house/dock on the lake with one other close by .Just the 2 of us at first light about 7 am and its really ccccold outside . We are chatting some and he all the sudden mentions RATS ! I really don't like rats and got bit really bad by one when I was 4 , it bit all the way thru my thumb and left a nasty scare I still have after some 56 years later . I wonder why he mentions them and he goes on to tell me about a herd of them hanging around in there . Says about 30 or so and of course I kinda think he is kidding around at first and say hmmmm , really ? I been coming here 5 years and never seen one ! He then says well there are some right over there and I glance down towards the other end of the dock and sure enough a big fat RAT is down there nibbling around .
I stomp the floor quick and it runs back under down a hole in the dock . No sooner was it gone and 2 show up out of the hole nibbling around . Well I told him I don't like them and if one gets close its gunna either gunna go swimming or get stomped for sure . He smiles a bit at me being nervous about them hanging around and then it begins !
He really seriously tells me they are GOOD to EAT ! This here Asian fella goes on to tell me the recipe and that where he comes from they are traditionally street food vendor items and really tasty ! Says they like them bar b q style and with a special sauce of some sort and I realized he wasn't kidding and said well I ate quite few squirrels back when and a rat is just a squirrel with no fur on its tail basically I suppose :Rofl
Then he goes into the what RATS are good to eat and that the ones near water sources are the best and don't eat the ones living around houses.....:yikes
This is a true story that took place just last weekend and I have included a few photos to authenticate the tale ... or should I have typed ....TAIL ? rotfl
p.s.
look close and you can see them down by the pole by the water and under the bench

Rats are a delicacy......to buzzards!

Cats like rats too! :Rofl

I like that Tail!


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Haha,eating rats aren't for the average fellow that's for sure,but I gotta tell ya,they ain't half bad.Next to Hunting and fishing,primitive trapping,and primitive survival is dear to me.Having taught primitive survival classes,eating what you catch is part of the game,and I've ate a few of what some call non edibles.
I do draw the line on city rats ( they taste like cigar butts,same as city pigeon ), but good old woods rats,they mimick their cousin the squirrel.Chipmonks are mighty tasty,along with the very easy to catch morning dove.Anyway,sorry if I hijacked your thread,but as I read it,I am actually prepping my gear for a mini suvival trip,just me and my red heeler.
I do this as often as I can ( my hand may hold me back some ),but it's beaver snaring time for me,and if you've never tasted pan fried beaver steaks,you ain't livin.Again I apologize for hijacking.

no apology needed I have no worries about interaction and encourage it .
way back when a guy used to do a thing on tv and had some books about things folks never knew were edible in the wild , he passed away some years back ,but I used to love his shows and reads , he would go camp out places and just go about gathering all sorts of things and eat them .
I do know from other reads and in some cases a few I have tried ,that just about everything in the wild has food or medicinal value to some degree .
I read back when about edible varmits such as foxes bobcats coons possums beavers armadillos and of course all the cold blooded critters and the list goes on , I even read were some starving immigrants ate a vulture one time and died as a result of some bacterial thing it carried ....
on a side note I bet beaver is pretty good if you can get past the poplar and aspen and or willow smell ...I know they have fat to beat the band in em like pork .
skinned a few back when myself .

Castor is what really destroys beaver meat,if the skinner can avoid it,beaver rivals the best beef cuts.A few years back While doing a forage and bow building seminar for a group of teenagers ,my 9 year old daughter ate a nightcrawler to demonstrate they are edible,but we couldn't get any other takers.:biggrin

most folks don't know the fine art of "stripping" a worm before you eat it ....LOL
my other halfs mom used red worms to color her salsa to get it red .....and that aint no joke
there is a fine art to outdoor consumption that most will never know ...
hellgrammites are tasty as well if prepared properly ...

In all my years as a student of being prepared,I always offer this advice,try your best to always position yourself near even the smallest of streams in all situations.Any fresh water stream will feed you,be it aquatic life,or land animals,this is true even in cold climates .........I have to have my hellgammites roasted :biggrin