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> You Might Not Want to Eat Bugs. But Would You Eat Meat That Ate Bugs? Ummm. Free-range chickens love insects. Trout also eat lots of insects. And pigs. Well,
by mirimir 7y ago
> You Might Not Want to Eat Bugs. But Would You Eat Meat That Ate Bugs?
Ummm. Free-range chickens love insects. Trout also eat lots of insects. And pigs. Well, I'm not going into what pigs will eat.
- microcolonel 7y agoAFAICT, chickens also eat any rodents stupid enough to go near them. If chickens were our size they'd be terrifying.
- omosubi 7y agoThat's basically what an ostrich is. They're chickens that can kill you.
- harimau777 7y agoNow that I think of it, I suppose that makes sense considering the whole "birds are dinosaurs" thing.
- ryan_j_naughton 7y agoIf only the 9ft tall terror birds [1] from South America hadn't gone extinct 1.8 million years ago, we would never have thought Dinosaurs went extinct in the first place (or said differently, the fast that birds are dinosaurs would have been obvious from the start). [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorusrhacidae https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorusrhacidae
- mirimir 7y agoIf they were our size, they'd be velociraptors.
- ineedasername 7y agoIf rotisserie velociraptor is as good as chicken, I think I could endorse the risks involved with a revival of the species.
- Nasrudith 7y agoCarnivore meats aren't generally considered as good or trophically advisable given bioaccumulation. Fish are one area we tend to ignore that perhaps because of how obfuscated the ecosystem has been historically - we didn't see what they ate.
- sohkamyung 7y agoI think you mean Utahraptor [1]. Velociraptors are about chicken sized [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utahraptor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utahraptor [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velociraptor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velociraptor
- mirimir 7y agoFair enough. Present day, I'd say mainly watch out for eagles. At least, if you're a child. Ostriches too, but they won't hunt you.
- bbarnett 7y agoI don't believe they actually hunt them, but in reality are protecting their eggs. Mice/rats/etc LOVE eggs. Chickens (and all birds) know this. As ground layers, they're surely protective of their eggs from mice.
- slfnflctd 7y agoThere was a book that became a TV movie called the Hoboken Chicken Emergency on this subject. I think it started out terrifying, but since it was made for kids didn't stay that way. Probably not a very accurate depiction.
- ineedasername 7y agoThese are things I try not to think about. And not just with animals: plants have grown from and frequently come in direct contact with poo, and that's not a great thought either. Maybe it will be easier when vat grown meat scales up.
- mirimir 7y agoI've eaten lots of Psilocybe spp. But the first time I picked them from cow patties, I hesitated. And ended up making tea.
- dev_dull 7y agoFresh mushroom picking always seems like a dangerous game to me. How were you 100% sure it was what you thought it was and not something that kills you?
- adrianN 7y agoIdentifying mushrooms is not that difficult. You need a good book and some diligence. Lots of people pick all kinds mushrooms regularly and accidents are relatively rare.
- tokyoSurfer 7y agoIt also depends on where you look for them. In Europe there is only one mushroom you can pick by mistake. The way to check if it is dangerous (and not really that much dangerous) is to lick it. If it has strong sour taste it is bad (licking it won't get you sick, you need to eat it whole). Most of the times people make mistakes when picking bladed mushrooms that are not even that closely looking as the eatable one.
- mirimir 7y agoMainly because I was with people who had eaten mushrooms from this cow pasture. Also because I know what Psilocybe look like. And that they turn blue where bruised with a fingernail etc.
- 7y ago
- thrower123 7y agoCattle aren't exactly picky about what they mow down along with their grass or hay or grain either. And if there's ever been a bale of hay that wasn't crawling with spiders and all manner of other beasties, I haven't seen it.
- PavlikPaja 7y agoI think pigs would eat most of the things used to feed the insects, so this step seems rather unnecessary.