The bee., 1883-05-26
RsTs As FOOD.
In English Writer'S Argument in Favor OF
Eating Grain. Fed Rodents.


Eating Grain-Fed Rodents.
Why do we not more frequently
follow the snakes example, and eat the
rodents that so despitefully use us? l
d mt suppose that many people would
ca about aiding the deniz MS OF our
city sewers to their menu but what
rational objection can there be to good,
wholesome, barn-fel rats? They know
what is good for themselves, depend
upon it, and do not feed on offal and
na.t'ncsj when better things are to he
had. We eat ducks and pigs and crabs
and all sorts of fish, in comparison
with which the rats ara bright and
blameless patterns of dietetic morality.
/ have tasted such, caught VITA snares
down in Kentish hop-garden-every
one Of them, no doubt, in its we'll
nourished maturity representing the
materials of great many loayes OF
bread and cakes and pie-crusts, with
some neighb ring farmer or miller as
its creditor for no small sum in the
aggregate; tn . flesh was as white as that
of a chicken and the ayor-weH, am
afraid the highest praise ] can Awards
that they had no flavor and were there
fore unobiectionabls But then I
had to cook them myself; no servant
would touch them; and as my knowl-
edge of the culinary art did not even
include at that period those rough de-
tails with which my subsequent wan
derings have perforce brought me &C.
quainted. the process consisted simply
of f1aying. decapitation. curta lment.
excavation and twirling them in front
OF the CRATE by means of bent pin
and piece Of cord. Dres ed with as
much care as is best Dws on snipe or
woodcock, l am persuaded that they
would be by no means an unwol thy
adjunct to the table. In China they
are expose for sale everywhere, split
open, dried, pressed and powdered with
finely ground white bark looking like
haddocks as they hang in long strings
over the vender's stall. We get timed
beef and mutton from all quarters of
the globe, timed oysters from America,
timed OK tongues from the Platte,
timed kangaroo frrm Australia: why
don't our Celestial friends send us their
prepared rats. as they do their over
rated b:rls'-neSt soup. in tins?
The Rev. B. Vernon. in his early
Recollections of Jamaica" tells us
that the black saves were in the habit
Of roasting and eating all the rats they
could catch. I sh ruld think, however,
that such prac ice must have been
except nal or limited TO particular
dis ,rict, since negroes in these climates
live principally upon fruit S and veget-
ables, and if pressed by want of anima
food, would find it, one W. uld th nix
without resorting to vermin. in the
birds, fish. molluscs, crus aceans and
edible reptiles with which such regions
abound. But it seems extraordinary
that prejudice against this ever
present supply of fresh meat should
exist at SEA, even nong crews who
are rotting with scurvy bred of salt
provisi ms, while the IA are quietly
fattening on tn ir peas and biscuit.
Several arctic voyagprS have given
us an account of the benefit derived
from their consumption. DR.. Kane
taught his men to shoot them wi
blunt ows, then boil them, mince
them up, roll the meat into balls with
melted tallow, and keep them frozen
until required. But although he him
self a'tribu, ,es his comparative immu-
nifty from scurvy to their Use, in most
Of these instances their value as food
seems only to nave been recognized
when the crews are in imminent dam
ger of starvation, or suggested by the
amusement of hunting the little poach-
ers during the long night.-A1 the
Year Round.