Eating pigeons

[Regular.Cyclist]

I had pigeon in a restaurant in North Berwick a couple of years ago. Very nice it was too.

 

[Norry1]

My friend/neighbour shoots pigeons for local farmers and he kindly gives me a pot of pigeon breasts evey now and again. They are lovely to eat and I tend to use them as I would steak - sliced in a stroganoff or whole with chips.

 

[Stephenite]

There’s a Sri Lankan fella at work, here in Oslo, that tells me he and some Sri Lankan friends of his keep pigeons, and drive them out into the country and release them so they fly home. When I told this to the Chinese girl at work she was very excited. She says the eggs are delicious. They’re exquisite. When fried, what we call the white of the egg, remains translucent! She asked me if he would sell her some eggs, or even a bird or two. I wasn’t sure. They’ve met since and he’ll sell her some eggs, perhaps, but it’ll have to wait until summer. He won’t let her have a bird, unless it was injured. But then it turns out neither of them would be able to put the bird down.

 

[Conrad_K]

part grey squirrel

Watch out for shotgun pellets; they're bad for your teeth.

Once was enough for me as far as squirrel. The greasy dark meat was not to my taste.

No fan of crab, lobster, or rabbit either. Though rattlesnake turned out to be unexpectedly tasty - it was flaky white meat, not the dark strings I expected.

 

[Smokin Joe]

When I was at university they had rabbit on the menu one day

I was happy to give it a go and it was nice - sort of like chicken but more meaty
My friend - who was a country lad and admitted to killing more than a few rabbit with a catapult as a teenager - said they the stew was OK but wild rabbit were tastier
The rest of our group avoided the dish like the plague - one guy was positively sick at the thought (but he was a bit weird!!)

It never happened again - apparently they had a load of complaints - I have no idea why!

My old mum used to sometimes serve up rabbit for dinner. It was quite a common thing among those who grew up in the counrtyside, especially in Ireland which was going through some hard times in her younger days.

 

[Red17]

We usually have rabbit in the freezer which we use in paella with chicken.We get them ready jointed from our local butcher who often has a couple in stock

 

[Katana]

Wood pigeons taste amazing and they do have quite a bit of meat on the bones. I once had a pigeon casserole and it was very tasty 😋

 

[tyred]

My old mum used to sometimes serve up rabbit for dinner. It was quite a common thing among those who grew up in the counrtyside, especially in Ireland which was going through some hard times in her younger days.

I remember a few people still shooting rabbits for eating when I was young, but fear of catching Myxomatosis (which was very common at the time) frightened most people from doing so.

My understanding is that it doesn't transfer to humans anyway (happy to be corrected), but I guess nobody wants to eat a diseased animal.

 

[Gillstay]

Watch out for shotgun pellets; they're bad for your teeth.

Once was enough for me as far as squirrel. The greasy dark meat was not to my taste.

No fan of crab, lobster, or rabbit either. Though rattlesnake turned out to be unexpectedly tasty - it was flaky white meat, not the dark strings I expected.

I thought many rattlesnake were becoming rare ?

 

[Gillstay]

Rabbit makes an excellent curry and Pheasant is rather good too. Muntjac beats them all though, esp when free as road kill..

 

[dicko]

As a child living with my Wiltshire grandparents who are country folk we often had Pigeon pie also fresh water fish too. Early morning Mushroom picking in the cow field and Pheasant for Sundays but you need a brace of Phesants as there’s not a lot of meat on them for four people. Rabbits occasionally but these were full of lead shot pellets so had to chew carefully.

 

[Alex321]

I remember a few people still shooting rabbits for eating when I was young, but fear of catching Myxomatosis (which was very common at the time) frightened most people from doing so.

My understanding is that it doesn't transfer to humans anyway (happy to be corrected), but I guess nobody wants to eat a diseased animal.

We used to trap rabbits for a while in the last house (cage trap), but I was the only one eating them, as my wife isn't keen on game - she had too much of it as a kid growing up in rural mid Wales with a dad who was a forester.

But then a wave of mixy came through, killing off most of them, and the population was only just recovering by the time we left.

 

[Profpointy]

Rabbit makes an excellent curry and Pheasant is rather good too. Muntjac beats them all though, esp when free as road kill..

I've recounted this story before but it's worth a retelling. A couple I knew were driving home in separate cars along a particular stretch of road. Upon getting home the lady commented to her husband "did you see that huge dog that'd been run over?" "It wasn't a dog" ... pause...narrowed eyes... "You've got it in the boot haven't you?". Anyhow they then hang up this sizeable deer in the conservatory to butcher it when the phone rings "It's the estate agent here. We've got a nice couple to view your house at 11am is that OK?". The conservatory looks like a scene from "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" so a rushed mopping is required and they "hide" the deer in the garage in a rolled up rug, albeit with its paws sticking out. Anyhow they got a year's worth of free venison out of it

 

[Time Waster]

We were visiting relatives for Xmas once when we hit a pheasant. Pooir thing was winged but undoubtedly would die. It certainly did after my Dad hit it with a stick, braining it, then putting it in the boot of the car. It went down well when my gran mixed it with turkey meat in a pie for dinner on the day after boxing day. We were glad of not eating turkey on its own by then!! TBH it needed hanging for longer but we wanted to eat it before we left.

As a kid I skinned a rabbit for cubs. Can you imagine them doing that nowadays???? Jeez! just how many parents' complaints would regional management of the organisation get???

BTW I found out that I did not like rabbit after that. pheasant is very pleasant though. Had that a lot. My great aunt ate pheasant like most would eat chicken for sunday dinner. Chicken was considered a treat and a special change from the bloody pheasant again. Well that was what my great uncle got for beating, as much pheasant as they could eat. In fact in season there was at least 5 or 6 hanging in a particularly cold part of the house (the way in from the back garden). It was a bit creepy TBH.

A good few years ago there was a programme of trying to protect the red squirrel population around the Haweswater reservoir and wider area. The locals would report sightings and a local with the contract to control the greys would get to work trapping and shooting. Anyway, The road from St Johns in the vale north of Thirlmere towards the Penrith - Keswick road there was a hotel near there that started to sell squirrel pie. I think some southern visitors complained and wrote a few bad reviews so they stopped. Well to them they love to see the nice grey squirrels in parks at home and they don't see them as vermin like they really are over here. Shame really because the chef made a nice pie out of them by all accounts.

So far my favourite meat is zebra!!! Seriously, A burger van at the end of the Trotternish ridge used to sell some quite exotic meats. One burger was sold as Zebra meat. It was a glorious taste and texture. I was not impressed with my kudu burger. BTW antelope are not like deer in terms of meat. I love venison but kudu I will avoid personally.

 

[Dadam]

Living in the city an air rifle is a bit elf-n-safety and likely illegal to use in my garden

That is not the case, as long as no pellet ever flies outside your boundaries, and as long as the air rifle in question is under the legal power limit.
Shooting live birds with it on the other hand will most likely be illegal as it's unlikely you'd be able to satisfy the terms of the General Licence.