Deer are hooved rats, Bambi nonwithstanding.
]]>If you live with fire ants you learn to keep a packet of baking soda in your pocket. Their bite is acidic and the the baking soda neutralizes it. The problem for fawns and even people bed-ridden in nursing homes is that they don’t or can’t move and cumulative bites will kill. Fire ant bites is the number one cause of fawn deaths in Florida.
Fewer and fewer people can afford to hunt. If you don’t inherit a rifle or slug shotgun you can’t justify the cost of a new one. You need the cost of licenses, transportation, processing, and storing if you have a successful hunt. Like a lot of things, kids today can’t afford to buy into the system, and there are too many deer in New York. In addition to everything else, the wildlife are losing habitat. An obvious solution is to re-introduce top level predators like wolves, but that scares the hell out of farmers.
]]>Parsnips are a non-starter. My Mother loved them and made them all the time, but they were usually bitter, just like Brussels sprouts. I can get by the sprouts with bacon and garlic, but abstinence is the solution for parsnips.
]]>I was raised on predominantly UK (Irish, Welsh, English & a bit of Scottish thrown in) & Mediterranean cooking. The recipe is rarely the same twice! LOL
When I had a decent House/Kitchen, i used to enjoy experimenting. That was many years ago. ๐
I like pork. it’s a good lean meat & tasty. Not huge fan of lamb, but a lamb shank is good. ๐ I also use Kangaroo & Venison. Both very lean & low cholesterol. There was a ban many year ago on Kangaroo (the greenies won that stupidity). It was a time of drought which made it worse. Roo’s breed like… well, rabbits. Until their food supply runs out. then they die of starvation in the 10’s of thousands! I and many other veterans & reservists were called up to cull them. One of the hardest thing’s I’ve ever done. But they were all skin & bones & unable to move, so it was a mercy. I really wanted to cull the moronic greenies responsible. I am a staunch conservationist (and work with many global organisations), but it has to be done responsibly & realistically. Not “Ooh! Kangaroos are so cuuuuute! You can’t eat them! It’s evil!” Ignorant highly emotive fools are the bane of existence IMHO!
Like with rabbit’s (sorry, cuuuuute bunnies!)
Rabbit’s were introduced to Australia in 1859 by Thomas Austin. The spread of feral Rabbits from the initial release of 24 in 1859 was rapid & destructive. By the 1920s, in less than 70-years, the rabbit population ballooned to an estimated 10 billion (each female capable of breeding up to 30 per year)! They are an invasive species whose introduction to Australia has caused devastation of habitats and is responsible for the major decline and extinction of many native Australian animals (marsupials) such as the greater bilby and the pig-footed bandicoot. The introduction of the rabbit has also strained the native wildlife of Australia. Rabbits have been blamed for the destruction of the eremophila plant and various species of trees. Because rabbits will feed on seedlings, many trees are never able to reproduce, leading to local extinction. Loss of vegetation leads to soil erosion as the exposed soil is washed or blown away, removing valuable soil nutrients required for new plants to develop. This soil is typically deposited in waterways, causing siltation and destroying aquatic ecosystems.
After destroying two million acres of Victoriaโs floral lands, they crossed the states of New South Wales, South Australia, and Queensland. By 1890, rabbits were spotted even in Western Australia. Actively competing with domestic livestock, rabbits can alter pasture composition by selectively grazing on more palatable and nutritious plants. Seven to ten rabbits eat the equivalent of one adult sheep, and, during drought periods, rabbits can totally strip a landscape bare leaving no food for sheep, cattle or native animals. In 1901 the Western Australian Government started building the first Rabbit Proof Fence, it was finished in 1907 and at about 1,830 kilometers it was the longest Rabbit fence built. In 1902, before the first fence was even finished, they had made their way past it, west of the fence. Two more fences were built; the 2nd fence further west was started in 1905.
In 1950 the alarming increase of Australian Rabbit population lead to the deliberate introduction of Myxomatosis (a severe viral disease) which led a drop of around 500 million, this still left the population at about 100 million. By 1991 the population had recovered to about 200-300 million due to genetic resistance. In 1996 CSIRO scientists released calicivirus which turned out to be too successful because it killed too many, leaving some native predators starving.
That’s what happens when people don’t think! Especially about consequences, which most humans seem to be incapable of thinking about. Thomas Austin brought them here because he loved to hunt. Foxes were introduced to help keep the rabbit population down, but the foxes found easier native prey and grew to large numbers also.
Humans! The worst species on Earth. There is more than enough evidence. The irony being that humans have what should be an amazing brain & intelligence. Evidence shows that few are capable of using it to any positive benefit of the species. However, using it to negatively impact the species or simply to ensure personal gain, Humans are masters of this. Most of the rest are too cowardly, lazy, stupid, insecure or self-absorbed to do anything about it. Homo Sapiens is a rare species that actively tries to destroy it’s own species. I should make a huge gravestone with that epitaph. Maybe some more intelligent space faring race will see it one day. And think (their equivalent of) “what a bunch of morons!” *shrug*
]]>I generally use a chuck steak and let the whole thing go in the crock pot over night. The steak is easy to cube and brown and if you leave it long enough it will turn to shreds for burritos.
]]>If anyone is brave enough to try, let me know how it turns out. ๐
Otherwise, you may simply enjoy (or not) Wil’s sense of humor! I did. ๐
]]>