One time my husband told me that our friend Jefferson was going to bring over some venison that he’d marinated.  They were going to grill it, and it was going to be delicious.  I’d never eaten venison, and I’d been watching a lot of Food Network, so I said, “Why not?”

It's what's for dinner

As it turns out, the meat was delicious.  It wasn’t gamey – Jefferson had marinated it for 24 hours.  But as I took my third or fourth bite of the dish, a question popped up in my head.  It wasn’t dear season, and the meat was fresh.  Where, pray tell, did this tasty Bambi come from?  I asked this question, and my husband looked at me and said, “You don’t want to know.”  Oh dear Lord.  Was this delicious food roadkill?

Technically, it was.  The deer was struck, reportedly in the presence of my husband and Jefferson, by an SUV.  Jefferson had picked it up, put it in his truck, taken it home, and cleaned it right away.  It had been grilled until it reached a safe temperature.  I was torn.  Was this actually better than buying meat at a store where I had no idea how the animal had been treated or what had been fed or injected into it, yet the FDA had had a hand in approving it, or was it worse?  What if the deer had an internal parasite that would then be transferred to me?  I didn’t want to pull a tapeworm out of my leg by wrapping it around a pencil!  What had I done?  What had THEY done?  Was this even legal?

my parasitic destiny?

That was over a year ago, and I’m still alive, and not skinny or (to my knowledge) full of parasite.  So, I guess it was either safe, or we lucked out.  I have, however, been curious about the legality of eating roadkill.  So I checked it out.

Tennessee – gathering and consuming roadkill is legal

Illinois – you can’t gather it from along the side of the road or the woods, but if someone kills it (either on purpose or by accident) they can keep it, or if they give it to you YOU can keep it.  Either way, it has to be reported to the DNR.

Maine – if you hit it, you call the police and have them tag it.  Then, you take it home and cook it.  MMM!

California – Nobody’s allowed to pick up roadkill, unless they have a scientific collecting permit and plan to study it.  Nobody’s allowed to eat it.

Minnesota – Pretty much the same as Illinois.

Missouri – You have to obtain written permission to keep a road-killed deer to eat.  I hope they are quick.  That stuff doesn’t stay fresh forever.

Texas – You’re not allowed to keep it.  Drag it to the side of the road and leave it there.  The TDT will take care of it.

Washington State – Call Animal Services.  Don’t eat it.  If it’s on your property, bury it.

Wisconsin – You can obtain a free permit to remove roadkill deer.  There are also contractors who do so.  I imagine, if you collect it, you can keep it.  Any Wisconsinite want to verify?

Wyoming – You have to get it tagged by a game warden, then you can keep it.

Georgia – Called and talked to the DNR Wildlife Division, awaiting response.

I’ll update as I get more state information, or if you know your state’s law, and it’s not listed here, go ahead and comment below and make my life easier.

incidentally, in  the UK, you can collect any dead “wild” animal you want to.  If you find a dead animal that has been kept in captivity, you have to call up and get them registered as dead and cremated.  So, no eating farm animals, pets, or circus animals.  Darn!  And that dead elephant looked SO tasty!

Related articles by Zemanta

• July 4th Isn’t the Only Time to Barbecue (eatinginrichmond.com)
• Animal (Roadkill) (socyberty.com)
• Warm Up With Homegrown Herbal Tea (theexchange.thegrowers-exchange.com)
• Healthy Concession Food? (drivinganddining.com)

Related posts:

1. Halloween-Associated Laws
2. Pillowkrieg
3. Dumb Animals – A Sensitive Tennessee Law

photo by asplosh

In my search for the wacky, unexplainable laws in this world, I run across a lot of state and city laws regarding animals.  I’m particularly fond of the one in Denver, Colorado that says that it is illegal to mistreat rats.

First off, I’d like to say that I agree with this law.  Rats get a bad rap.  “You dirty rat” and other such insults are usually directed at creatures far more despicable than the actual furry creatures.  I had a pet rat my first year of college, and she was a delightful companion.  She would ride on my shoulder and curl her little tail over my ear.  It was sweet.

Anyhow, it turns out that the fine people of PETA have even more nice things to say about rats.  I’m going to do some direct quoting here, so you get the full strength of PETA’s love for these members of the genus Rattus.

Here are some quotes, direct from an article about PETA:

“Rats are intelligent, sensitive and friendly animals who bear the brunt of human fears and prejudices”
Rats are “fastidiously clean animals who groom themselves throughout the day.”
“They naturally have a pleasant perfume-like smell.”
“The rodents are smart and can learn to recognize their names and respond when called”
“Rats laugh and express joy”
“Recent studies have shown that when rats play or are playfully tickled, they make chirping sounds that are strikingly similar to human laughter.”
“Rats who live with people often seek touch play or tickling, in much the same way that dogs and cats do.”

I can’t vouch for the laughing thing.  My rat did sneeze a lot, so maybe that was her version of laughing.  I never tickled her, so I can’t verify that peace of information.  I do know that she looked pretty joyful when I gave her a piece of cheese, and she pretty much groomed herself all day.  She sure didn’t smell like perfume, but she didn’t smell awful either.  In fact, my dog smells worse than she did.

So, the whole point here is to not be mean to rats.  Don’t mistreat them.  I think that’s a pretty good rule to follow for all creatures.  Good law – don’t mistreat things.  Period.

No related posts.