How I started Eating Possum (a survival adventure)

[Ruthless4christ]

After my in search of new possum recipe thread was met with such ideas as

Leave 'em there, buzzards and coyotes have to eat too.

and

1. Dig a large hole as far away from the house as you can.
2. Place 'possum in hole.
3. Cover with dirt.
4. Order pizza or chineese take-out.
5. Enjoy not eating 'possum.

I decided i would share how exactly i came to begin eating this obviously "unclean" animal.

it all began my first year of volunteer missions work in Guatemala, as a 16 yr. old. i was living in a remote village about 15 miles walk from the nearest town teaching the locals to plant coffee. well at one point the directors of the mission left me alone for a supposed 2 week period of time which stretched out into 3 months. they were supposed to bring me more food from town but never showed up...oh yeah and no phones. so i stuck around and figured i had to scrounge up about whatever i could to eat.

upon asking the natives what they hunt , i was answered with "well there are pigs up in the rainforest(about three hour walk away" but around here the only thing we got is doves and Taquasines*)
*Taquasine means Possum

now ya'll have to understand that I did not recognize the Guatemalan word for possum and was completely tricked into this situation.

well we go out at night to search for this unknown supposed tasty creature, and at the first orange tree we encounter i flash my surefire mounted on my Sears Robuck 12 guage bolt action shotgun (my first gun in Guatemala) an see a pair of eyes...THERE HE IS shout the locals, and i fire(very hungry indeed at this point)

as it falls to the ground my six month old German sheapherd runs after it and after sniffing the body quickly returns with his tail between his legs(bad sign) and as I aproach to inspect i feel betrayal washing over me. this is a possum! i scream in english, the locals responding with blank stares.

but in the end the hunger pangs and the fact that i had not eaten any meat for about a month drove me to clean the ebast and cook it with lots of pepper. it filled me and allowed me to live another day. THe cleaning of this animal and the adventures therewhith are left for another days, as ihave written enough already.

[hogdogs]

Is this the same creature we call possum in the lower 48? Or is it the cute little black one found in New Zealand?
Brent

[Ruthless4christ]

same deal friend...just as mean...just as smelly

[zahnzieh]

Did you ever notice when they play dead they already come covered in flies?And the smell..... You are truely a brave and hungry man:barf:

[SuddenPull]

I remember some of the old folks talking about eating them during the great depression. They said before they ate one they would check and make sure there weren’t any dead animals around the area.

[JackL]

I've eaten possum once, just to see what it was like. Not too gross with rice, sweet potatoes and collard greens, but I wouldn't go out of my way to repeat the experience unless I was really hungry.

On a side note, when I was about 4 years old one of my cousins told me that possums were born dead by the side of the road and got up and walked off when they reached full growth. I believed it just long enough to repeat it to my mom ...

[razorburn]

You should've eaten the doves my friend

[45Marlin carbine]

you can laugh all you want, and I'll laugh just as hard with you but I've eaten several. not my wild game of choice mind, but the right ones are good eating. find 'em by an orchard, berry patch or persimmon trees and get a young one.
careful to remove the glands in the leg-pits. roast with apples, sweet taters, onion and sprinkle the meat with a little crushed red pepper when seasoning with salt and black pepper.
roast in a pan with tight-fitting lid for an hour then remove lid and cook another 1/2 hour in oven. or cook useing a DO on campfire.

[sureshots]

I'm not A certified Opossum (Possum) eater. But I have seen it done. The old folks caught the creature put it in A cage and fed it Veggies and such for A week or so to "CLEAN IT OUT" so to speak. This is my tip for today to you modern POSSUM eaters. Happy Eating

[sureshots]

HOTDOGS,Use 45 Marlin Carbine's Reciepe and my Tip for today and you will soon be Eating Possum and feeding that PORK to the Pit Bulls.

[12GaugeShuggoth]

I've eaten it as well, not terrible by any means. Not my first choice for a tasty dinner either, but I'd not hesitate to eat it again in a dire situation.

[Buzzcook]

The reason there are possums here in the Northwest is because Southerners packed them here as food animals during the early 20th century. The only natural predator they have here is the automobile.

There are lots of nasty things that people will eat when it comes to a choice of eating or going hungry. There are lots of cooking techniques and recipes that were developed to make nasty things taste good.
I'd still just as soon not eat nasty things though.

[SuddenPull]

About like cooking coon, huh?




In ancient times they sat by the campfire and shot the camel dung because BS in those days was unheard of.

[Scorch]

Reminds me of a story my dad told me once:
He and a friend of his were out hunting for skunk pelts (this was during the Depression). As they were headed back in, they saw a possum and decided that it would be good for food, so they hit it with a stick and threw it in the sack. As they were getting close to a neighbor's house, they thought they would ask if the neighbor wanted the possum. The neighbor met them at the front porch and as they talked he kept making faces like something smelled funny. Finally the neighbor told them to clean up and come on in for supper if they wanted, but first get that stinky thing out of here. When they told him it was skunks, he said no, he could tell there were skunks in the bag, but it smelled like possum.

So, to all you possum eaters, thanks but no thanks.

[akr]

I live in town in Oklahoma, and I could have all the possum I could eat....that is, if I chose to do so. All I have to do is go out in the backyard at night or early morning. They are the ugliest and nastiest looking creatures, and they eat up all the pet food. They aren't afraid and they'll stand their ground.

[scoutleader]

I from the Ozark's of Missouri, we ate Possum, Beaver, Crow, Black Birds, they all are not bad. The one thing I never care to eat again is Muskrat, it is tuff and the longer you have to chew the worse it gets.

[rogertc1]

I like Beaver!!

[Daryl]

About like cooking coon, huh?

I don't know much about 'possums, since we don't have any here, but 'coon doesn't look like it'd be all that bad. My dogs love the meat from 'coons.

Mostly find them down on the river, near pecan orchards, but there's plenty in the mountains, too. The more I think about it, pecan fed 'coon doesn't sound all that bad.

Probably be better than eating javalina.

Daryl

[fourdogs]

Changed my mind. No comment.