Cull racoons and use meat to feed welfare people and homeless.

[Rue]

fried earth worms, slowly cooked in a little butter....Let me say this they suck, but maybe i was not hungry enough....

Yep. Worms, ants, grasshoppers, beatles,slugs, mice, rodents of any kind-you dump them in boiling water if nothing else to kill any germs and eat them if you are hungry enough.

I respect nature. I realize most things out there are edible. Not the issue for me. Issue for me are people who take their fortune for granted and ridicule others.

Racoons are a nuisance in most large cities the same reason skunks and opossums are. They can adapt very quickly to buildings and because they are nocturnal like rats, they can avoid humans in the day and thrive on the garbage at night.

We've also gotten rid of their natural prey although some will tell you coyotes have made a strong come back and in many cities they are a nuisance too, but coyotes thrive on small pets and garbage so they can't be bothered to hunt coons or rats anymore.

Urban people react differently to animals then people living in more rural areas. In a more rural area you shoot and kill anything you think is a nuisance. In cities we are disconnected from our environments and so we feel guilty sometimes when we see wild animal get killed on the road but have no problem walking by some homeless drunk mental case and scarcely batting an eye.

In my suburb people come from countries where they throw garbage out and are not in touch with wildlife or maintaining gardens. They want cement everywhere. A lot is where you come from and your culture. What you learn when you are young about life and the planet paves the way for your approach the rest of your life.

City racoons are infested with diseases. There's nothing funny about asking people to eat diseased animals.

People living in rural areas, with limited income or not hunt. Its a way of life. In many rural areas people hunt. Of course. They have no grocery store. There is nothing to ridicule about that. Its life. Turning it into a joke to ridicule the poor is pointless.

I prefer the approach of trying to come up with work projects for the disenfranchised where possible.

The fact is many homeless are mentally ill. You want to ridicule them to make yourself feel better, knock yourselves out.

Edited August 15, 2011 by Rue

[Guest American Woman]

The fact is many homeless are mentally ill. You want to ridicule them to make yourself feel better, knock yourselves out.

Is it ridiculing them? Are city raccoons filled with disease? I haven't been able to substantiate that.

I didn't think too highly of this thread at first either, but then did some reading and found that if cooked right, raccoon is evidently quite tasty. Also found out that Canadian Geese, which are a nuisance, are being killed and fed to the poor in New Jersey - and New York hopes to develop the means to do it too.

So is it making fun, or is it a possible solution for increasing the food supply for the homeless?

[dre]

Is it ridiculing them? Are city raccoons filled with disease? I haven't been able to substantiate that.

I didn't think too highly of this thread at first either, but then did some reading and found that if cooked right, raccoon is evidently quite tasty. Also found out that Canadian Geese, which are a nuisance, are being killed and fed to the poor in New Jersey - and New York hopes to develop the means to do it too.

So is it making fun, or is it a possible solution for increasing the food supply for the homeless?

or is it a possible solution for increasing the food supply for the homeless?

There IS NO food shortage. We have a rather large agricultural surplus. We dont feed all the homeless because we dont feel like it, and some people even think its wrong and evil... it has nothing to do with scarcity of food.

And the problem is that it would cost WAY WAY WAY less to give these people food from massive facctory farms than it would to feed them rodents that live on chemicals and garbage.

By the time you put in place the various diferent checks, standards, and inspections required to make sure the food is safe to eat, it would cost more than just picking up a steak at freakin walmart.

This is really beyond idiotic and no... its not a possible solution to anything.

[Sir Bandelot]

There IS NO food shortage. We have a rather large agricultural surplus. We dont feed all the homeless because we dont feel like it, and some people even think its wrong and evil... it has nothing to do with scarcity of food.

And the problem is that it would cost WAY WAY WAY less to give these people food from massive facctory farms than it would to feed them rodents that live on chemicals and garbage.

By the time you put in place the various diferent checks, standards, and inspections required to make sure the food is safe to eat, it would cost more than just picking up a steak at freakin walmart.

This is really beyond idiotic and no... its not a possible solution to anything.

Plus, to me the idea is repugnant to feed them stuff that we ourselves would never want to eat. Good enough for the "unter-mensch"

[Guest American Woman]

Plus, to me the idea is repugnant to feed them stuff that we ourselves would never want to eat. Good enough for the "unter-mensch"

Have you missed the part, posted more than once, that raccoon is considered quite good by some people?

[Sir Bandelot]

Have you missed the part, posted more than once, that raccoon is considered quite good by some people?

If you eat it and tell us it was good, then, ok.

[Oleg Bach]

Have you missed the part, posted more than once, that raccoon is considered quite good by some people?

In the wild the might be passable as food - They are very clean...in the city - do you want to consume meat that was raised on garbage?

[Guest American Woman]

In the wild the might be passable as food - They are very clean...in the city - do you want to consume meat that was raised on garbage?

Isn't that what they are doing with the Canadian Geese in NY/NJ? Seems to me city Canadian geese would be comparable to city raccoons. People are drawing conclusions about city raccoons not being fit to eat, but I would just like some verification. Can't seem to find any information on it.

[guyser]

Isn't that what they are doing with the Canadian Geese in NY/NJ? Seems to me city Canadian geese would be comparable to city raccoons. People are drawing conclusions about city raccoons not being fit to eat, but I would just like some verification. Can't seem to find any information on it.

Cant help you there but I wouildnt eat a CDN Goose if it was the last meal on earth...well maybe in that case.

Id eat raccoon over that, garbage from my garbage can is infinitely cleaner than the grass the Geese eat with all the chems they put on it.

Goose eat grass , followed w grass chasers and finally dessert of City Grass Flambe

[Wilber]

Had a couple of the little buggers in the back yard eating our blueberries today.

[dre]

Isn't that what they are doing with the Canadian Geese in NY/NJ? Seems to me city Canadian geese would be comparable to city raccoons. People are drawing conclusions about city raccoons not being fit to eat, but I would just like some verification. Can't seem to find any information on it.

First of all theres a big diference between geese and racoons. Geese are migratory birds that eat plant life. Racoons are scavengers that eat pretty much anything.

Its not that I think racoons cant be safe to eat. I just think that properly preparing that food and inspecting it to make sure it meets all the various standards would be cost prohibitive compared to feeding the homeless Èalmost expiredÈ meat and bread from a super store.

The problem with feeding the homeless isnt the cost or the availability of food. It really wouldnt cost much at all. We have TONS of food in the US and Canada, and large agricultural surpluses that are usually about 25% taxpayer subsidized. Theres a split in opinion though... a lot of people just dont WANT to feed them.

[Saipan]

In the wild the might be passable as food - They are very clean...in the city - do you want to consume meat that was raised on garbage?

That is what you pay for in supermarket. Garbage. Stuffed with growth hormones and antibiotics, maybe more.

"Environmentalists" don't want me to eat clean moose or deer or beaver........

[Saipan]

Racoons are scavengers that eat pretty much anything.

Just like chicken.

[Guest American Woman]

Cant help you there but I wouildnt eat a CDN Goose if it was the last meal on earth...well maybe in that case.

Id eat raccoon over that, garbage from my garbage can is infinitely cleaner than the grass the Geese eat with all the chems they put on it.

Goose eat grass , followed w grass chasers and finally dessert of City Grass Flambe

I feel the same way about the geese. We have a large population of them where I live, too. Finally built a fence around the entire airport to keep the deer off the runway, but not much we can do about the geese. At any rate, I couldn't see myself wanting to eat those geese any more than I would want to eat a "culled raccoon," yet it seems as if that program - killing the geese to feed the poor - is being greeted with enthusiasm. Hence all of my points/comments ...........

[Guest American Woman]

The problem with feeding the homeless isnt the cost or the availability of food. It really wouldnt cost much at all. We have TONS of food in the US and Canada, and large agricultural surpluses that are usually about 25% taxpayer subsidized. Theres a split in opinion though... a lot of people just dont WANT to feed them.

I doubt that a lot of people don't want to feed the homeless/hungry - I think the biggest problem is moving all that surplus where it's needed - in a timely and affordable manner.

[Saipan]

I feel the same way about the geese. We have a large population of them where I live, too. Finally built a fence around the entire airport to keep the deer off the runway, but not much we can do about the geese.

Both geese and deer are FAR better quality than what you buy in the store.

It's a crazy politically correct set up. (as most regulations these days) High up in the North natives are told by the government to shoot as many as possible, because geese are destroying their own habitat. Way down South in the states (as shown on news clip) geese are trapped by netting and gased - then dumped. Yet in between non-native hunters are VERY strictly limited.

[William Ashley]

This is a most excellent idea I would think. Toronto has far too many racoons. Mayor Ford should institute a pay per dead racoon body, send them to a slauhter house and have them butchered and frozen then distribute them to people with their welfare cheques and use the meat to also feed the many homeless in our shelters. Good deal for everyone.

Who's with me?

There would be added costs for food inspection - the law would need to be changed provincially for "dead animals" and butchering rules. There would be a lot of inbuilt costs.

I'm surprised however you didn't include use the skins as clothing - Daniel Boon hats etc.. you really arn't thinking your idea through.

Take into account all the poor animals in the human society that get putdown with their meat not going to use. All the green grass space that could be used to feed rapidly reporducing rabits, or energy producing pigs.

Domesticated animals are far more economical to secure - it would be grossly inadequette to do a "hunt" trapping would make far more sense for wild animals.

I like Canadian Geese they are friendly, but they have more meat than a turkey. I'm koshure with them though.

End point however you really need to fully think your plan through like getting the OPP and MTO etc.. to collect roadkill.. there are a lot of food options that arn't tapped - not to mention tons of wild edible plants that grow or are considered weeds - but were native foods like Milkweed, clover and dandylions.

There are tons of untapped food resource.

The humane society would be a much more organized food source. Before you think it barbaric on either account, some countries actually do eat cats and dogs, so it would just be a menu choice for them.

You could also sell it to raise funds to help save animals, or to provide lower costs for welfare through commercial sales of animals not available through anything but a hunting and trapping license or via a special law from the humane society.

Personally I think animals should be trapped and released in remote areas if they are a nuisance locally. Animals should be let breed and grow for when they are really needed not a save a buck scheme. We should turn cats and dogs free to become feral in the woods instead of putting them down. In a worse case scenario it gives hunters something to protect themselves from to justify a kill.

There are plenty of vegetable food sources that don't require animals to be killed.

Say hiring 10 food inspectors at 40-60k each will run half a million dollars which is a lot of meat for those limited few receiving welfare. Plus the cost of gas transporting, plus the cost of the bounty that makes it worth peoples time to capture and drop the animal off.

It doesn't add up for the racoon stuff.

It makes far more sense to just let those receiving social assistance hunt and trap without paying for a license.

If there are half a million social assistance recipients that works out to about 1$ of meat for the cost of just paying the food inspectors.. then you have to question will 250,000 racoons be culled? What is the racoon population?

If there are 10 per square KM then it may make sense to have 1 racoon per month or two per sq km this might yield say 200,000 racoons in a year.

For meat alone this does not seem cost effective especially if a bounty is involved. However, if there was a market for the fur then cost return via sale of the fur and fur products might actually cover the cost of the program itself.

However it then makes more sense to "have peoples workfare" actually applied to hunting and trapping. Instead of picking up trash send them out to a stream or the woods or a field.

You also need to ask with the cost of gas, or the unappeal on public health to have people transporting dead animals on buses and the subway.

The overall efficiency really needs to be put in question, and the organization needs to be equated.

There are options but I don't think a cull will really be able to meet the legal requirements without great cost involved. It could be done but a simple bounty and butchering site is not sufficient, with retail rental space employee costs etc... it makes more sense just to buy food direct.

BUT I do recommend if for any reason you kill a racoon, eat it and stop complaining about the cost of taxes for welfare. Wildmeat is tastey. Why bring it in for the bounty when you can BBQ it yourself and put the 10$ for chicken to those in need?

Personally i love animals, and won't kill them for food if I have my wits, but I will eat one if i find it dead (if it safe to do so)

Canada is priveleged that it isn't in famine, these atrocities make more sense when there isn't food. Of course these atrocities are the historic methods of survival in North America. There are A LOT of untapped food sources. I know because I use them.

(I didn't mention canabilism and the deathrate once in this response - you know soylent green -- the conservatives new source of food, oddly opposition votes are in decline... :|<) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_Green (set only 10 years in the future...)

The Harpagus Government.

Edited September 6, 2011 by William Ashley

[Saipan]

Domesticated animals are far more economical to secure - it would be grossly inadequette to do a "hunt" trapping would make far more sense for wild animals.

Makes you wonder why the natives in all their wisdom don't know.

[William Ashley]

Isn't that what they are doing with the Canadian Geese in NY/NJ? Seems to me city Canadian geese would be comparable to city raccoons. People are drawing conclusions about city raccoons not being fit to eat, but I would just like some verification. Can't seem to find any information on it.

It is mostly illegal in Canada to eat the Canada Goose because it is the national bird of Canada. It is like eating a bald eagle.

http://www.wildgoosechasers.com/law.php

www.on.ec.gc.ca/wildlife/brochures/pdf/geeseshorelines-e.pdf

Bald eagles are predators no, is that a good reason for a cull? Tastey bald eagle on the plate?

Edited September 11, 2011 by William Ashley

[guyser]

It is mostly illegal in Canada to eat the Canada Goose because it is the national bird of Canada. It is like eating a bald eagle.

er no it isnt the national bird.

Ever heard of a Loon ?