Eating According to the Season

morning glory said:
Why would rabbits do that? No food to be had. It seems odd...
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Rabbits will try anything that could potentially be a food source. Apparently they like the texture of car parts. Most small mammals and rodents will.
We had to keep our rabbits in metal cages so they wouldn't chew their way out. Given half a chance they would have eaten through the wood frames, if they weren't covered in metal cage wire.

I am guessing you are learning my family was strange.
 
morning glory said:
Why would rabbits do that? No food to be had. It seems odd...
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Having read the book the private life of Mr rabbit...

Rabbits are a bullying society. baby rabbits like adult rabbits have teeth that grow constantly. so they gnaw. in the rain they discovered they could get under the car without being dirty or salty and adults could not. also, in the rain and with us parking on grass, they were still able to feed and stay dry unlike adults. but they still needed to gnaw... they gnawed at anything they could reach hence how we know it was not mice, rats or squirrels doing the damage. it all stopped at one level, never went up into wheel arches or the engine bay... plus we frequently saw them under the car never adults...

As for all pests, it's a hard one. they are our of control in certain areas of the country. if it were mice or rats people would be in up roar complaining loudly. rabbits they see a soft, cute, part of the country. you get a different view of it being brought up in the country side. townies on the other hand unless they experience it first hand when moving to countryside simply do not understand, so I don't bother answering questions like your other one. squirrels, greys...
 
We have the hot wet season (around March to September) and the cool dry season (October to February). I have no idea what fruits and vegetables appear in the markets during which season. If the produce is for sale we tend to buy it and eat it. If it isn't available, we don't.

Luckily potatoes appear to be available almost all year round.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Having read the book the private life of Mr rabbit...

Rabbits are a bullying society. baby rabbits like adult rabbits have teeth that grow constantly. so they gnaw. in the rain they discovered they could get under the car without being dirty or salty and adults could not. also, in the rain and with us parking on grass, they were still able to feed and stay dry unlike adults. but they still needed to gnaw... they gnawed at anything they could reach hence how we know it was not mice, rats or squirrels doing the damage. it all stopped at one level, never went up into wheel arches or the engine bay... plus we frequently saw them under the car never adults...

As for all pests, it's a hard one. they are our of control in certain areas of the country. if it were mice or rats people would be in up roar complaining loudly. rabbits they see a soft, cute, part of the country. you get a different view of it being brought up in the country side. townies on the other hand unless they experience it first hand when moving to countryside simply do not understand, so I don't bother answering questions like your other one. squirrels, greys...
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I just wondered if, being a vegetarian you would see eating pests as acceptable. In general I mean. Its an interesting point.
 
We are lucky that we still have any wildllfe in these parts. The locals will eat anything!
 
morning glory said:
I just wondered if, being a vegetarian you would see eating pests as acceptable. In general I mean. Its an interesting point.
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We have had this conversation before. my objections are with the way we farm animals and keep them in appalling conditions, terminating their lives early, really early, often whilst still the equivalent of being in primary school in a human life cycle (!). but I guess at least that ends their suffering and horrendous living conditions of most farmed animals that you never get to see. then what we as humans do, to that carcass and how it is used and finds its way into the food chain is what I disagree with, but mostly out is the conditions. anyone who thinks cows or cattle in general routinely get raised on grass is kidding themselves. but there we go.

Something always eats something.

Given I have had the euthanase by hand, rabbits dying of myxomatosis where they have been blind and deaf, starving to death, feeding at all hours and in all weather conditions (rabbits do not normally feed in the rain and as a rule there is usually something wrong with a rabbit that is) with pus and maggots coming out of their eyes and occasionally ears as well, I can not reasonably have discussion with someone about eating rabbits or what a pest they actually are especially if they have never had to do the same. And I was coming across these poor things routinely, putting down several a week at the height of the myxi season. in areas where they are routinely hunted and shot, the population is generally much healthier and stronger and you see less of a problem with flea transmitted diseases such as myxi because of lack of overcrowding in warrens. warren rabbits are much more likely to have and get myxi than hedgerow rabbits (not all rabbits live in warrens).

As for eating wild animals that have not been farmed and then released to be shot, animals that have had a life as nature intend, provided that death is not lingering and is quick, so no traping by snares for a slow strangulation or leg injuries etc, then if it is a choice between eating and not eating I have no issues. BUT, and this is a big but, we as a population in general do not need to live that way anymore. it is only populations of humans on the extreme edges who survive off the land that need to hunt for a survival. if we banned all farmed animals and returned to only eating wild meats, perhaps I would not be vegetarian? I have no idea. my objections life entirely with how we raise, slaughter and consume animals in awful conditions and unnaturally short life spans. cows can and do live for 20 odd years, yet humans slaughter them before they are fully grown for more tender meat having artificially fattened them by overfeeding them and restricting exercise. perhaps that is what is happening to today's youth?

The age to slaughter animals varies depending on many things. The highest quality beef comes from animals that are under 36 months of age. Old cows produce highly acceptable beef if properly fattened and processed. Depending on the calf and the feeding regime, calves are best slaughtered between three and 16 weeks of age. Hogs may be killed any time after they reach six weeks of age, but for the most profitable pork production may need to be fed for five to ten months. Sheep and goats may be killed anytime after six weeks, but the more desirable age is from six to 12 months.
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My bold.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/T0279E/T0279E05.htm

I'm not willing to discuss this further. my reasons are mine and I do not expect others to understand them. nor do I have any wish to impose them on others. they are mine and mine alone. I'm not here to force my views on others and I'm certainly not someone who would glue back together the shell of a snail they have trodden on our feel guilty over treading on it in the first place. I would only have ridden on it if I didn't see it. I can't do anything about that other than look more carefully next time and leave said snail for something else to eat. it's called a food chain for a reason. humans have just interfered with it beyond reason now.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
We have had this conversation before. my objections are with the way we farm animals and keep them in appalling conditions, terminating their lives early, really early, often whilst still the equivalent of being in primary school in a human life cycle (!). but I guess at least that ends their suffering and horrendous living conditions of most farmed animals that you never get to see. then what we as humans do, to that carcass and how it is used and finds its way into the food chain is what I disagree with, but mostly out is the conditions. anyone who thinks cows or cattle in general routinely get raised on grass is kidding themselves. but there we go.

Something always eats something.

Given I have had the euthanase by hand, rabbits dying of myxomatosis where they have been blind and deaf, starving to death, feeding at all hours and in all weather conditions (rabbits do not normally feed in the rain and as a rule there is usually something wrong with a rabbit that is) with pus and maggots coming out of their eyes and occasionally ears as well, I can not reasonably have discussion with someone about eating rabbits or what a pest they actually are especially if they have never had to do the same. And I was coming across these poor things routinely, putting down several a week at the height of the myxi season. in areas where they are routinely hunted and shot, the population is generally much healthier and stronger and you see less of a problem with flea transmitted diseases such as myxi because of lack of overcrowding in warrens. warren rabbits are much more likely to have and get myxi than hedgerow rabbits (not all rabbits live in warrens).

As for eating wild animals that have not been farmed and then released to be shot, animals that have had a life as nature intend, provided that death is not lingering and is quick, so no traping by snares for a slow strangulation or leg injuries etc, then if it is a choice between eating and not eating I have no issues. BUT, and this is a big but, we as a population in general do not need to live that way anymore. it is only populations of humans on the extreme edges who survive off the land that need to hunt for a survival. if we banned all farmed animals and returned to only eating wild meats, perhaps I would not be vegetarian? I have no idea. my objections life entirely with how we raise, slaughter and consume animals in awful conditions and unnaturally short life spans. cows can and do live for 20 odd years, yet humans slaughter them before they are fully grown for more tender meat having artificially fattened them by overfeeding them and restricting exercise. perhaps that is what is happening to today's youth?


My bold.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/T0279E/T0279E05.htm

I'm not willing to discuss this further. my reasons are mine and I do not expect others to understand them. nor do I have any wish to impose them on others. they are mine and mine alone. I'm not here to force my views on others and I'm certainly not someone who would glue back together the shell of a snail they have trodden on our feel guilty over treading on it in the first place. I would only have ridden on it if I didn't see it. I can't do anything about that other than look more carefully next time and leave said snail for something else to eat. it's called a food chain for a reason. humans have just interfered with it beyond reason now.
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Don't take me too seriously! Just trying to get a bit of debate going - it gets a bit tame around here sometimes!

As it happens, despite the fact I grew up on a council estate, it was backing on to farm land and I have seen rabbits affected in the way you describe. I kept pet rabbits and remember feeling desperately upset by seeing these sick creatures. I'm not sure what that has to do with eating them though. I don't think anyone would want to eat a sick animal.

I just wondered if you (or any other vegetarian - not particularly aimed at you) would eat healthy animal meat if it was necessarily culled as a pest. I was a vegetarian from age 11 until 20, mainly for the reasons you outline to do with welfare. But I also felt revulsion at the idea of eating dead animals. So it wasn't entirely a welfare issue. I still feel strongly about animal welfare despite the fact I eat meat. Not very often, I should add. I prefer vegetarian food really
 
What SatNavSaysStraightOn said about rabbits happened with deer in one of our states. The state decided that all hunting of deer was very bad and none should ever be killed. Fast forward about 5 years and that state was begging hunters from other areas to come help control their very sick deer population. The general response was if we can't eat them, it isn't worth our time and ammunition. Take care of your own deer.

In Texas, we have hunting seasons and if you are a hunter you better have your tags. Each hunter is only allowed so many deer a year and that is broke up by sex. Example 2 bucks and 1 doe.
It changes every year depending on conditions and right now in some parts of Texas (and I think New Mexico) you have to take your killed deer to a testing station before you can take it home.
I think they are or I should say were testing for Chronic Wasting Disease. Deer season is over right now.
 
morning glory said:
would eat healthy animal meat if it was necessarily culled as a pest
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Would you eat rats, mice or squirrels that are culled as pests?

No. I wouldn't. I have had to eat meat on my travels but only when we were completely unable to avoid it for a number of reasons. there was only 1 meal containing meat that stood out as actually very good. I think the guy running the bar restaurant with rooms for workmen on the side must have been a chef prior to opening his bar. it was an amazing place as it was and the meal was simply pork chops with some veg and chips. even my husband who does eat meat occasionally still remembers that meal. he said he had never had any so good. I wouldn't wilfully or willingly eat any flesh, not just meat, or any animal /insect /fish etc products by choice again though.

I see no need in a 1st world country. there are plenty of other protein sources and if it were not for the fact we have our own chooks and honey from locally sourced hives, I would not be eating anywhere near the number of eggs we are. usually we hardly touch them unless out cycling on tour.

Pests can be fed to other animals as part of the natural food chain as far as I'm concerned assuming that they haven't been poisoned that is. though if you would like to eat them, feel free.
 
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