Yea, Les pointed out the irony of . . . "eating boobie breast" during that scene, too.

I wouldn't be so worried about eating birds as with the handling. That is where you would be more likely to contract something from them, unless you eat them raw.

If you want pigeon in a restuarant, in my experience, it is going to be called squab and it will cost you a few bucks. I guess it can be considered gourmet cuisine.

As a source of food in a survival situation, I think it all depends on how hungry you are and waht you aversions are to the particular dish. I've had squab, but if you told me if came from the NYC streets, I might not have wanted it for the price I paid. If hungry enough, it would look like dinner to me.

However, piegon as a food source might not be something you want to go out, hunt, kill and roast. You might be much better off catching them, confining them, feeding them and giving them a hone, to which they will return, in essence raising them as you would chicken. I've read that if you do catch them, confining them and feeding them for a few weeks can get them to consider the new digs home. I don't think the egg production is as good as for chickens, and the meat may not be either. But pigeons are birds that can pretty much care for themselves, as that is what they do anyway.

Domesticating a flock of pigeons thus gives you a good stock with which to train bird dogs. They are easy to plant in the field (just tuck their head under their wing, hold them at arm's length, and spin your arm around a few times like a propeller. Puts em right to sleep). They will lay their till the pooch gets up on them with his nose, then they roust and flush.

Grandad used to put me after hunting squab with a slingshot in the grain barn out at the feedlot when I was young. I never did get one, but did get a lot of practice.

Some Pigeon Recipes;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/food/recip...p;submit=Search

Those are some good recipes. I like the idea of pigeon and lentils. They ought to complement each other well.

Have you tried any of these recipes, or do you have any of your own that you would recommend/share?

My mom used to bake dove breasts with white rice (cooked first of course) and a can of mushroom soup, they were great. Should work with pigeons too...

Since armadillos in the U.S. can carry leprosy, I think I would have to be really hungry to eat them. Yes, I know it's only 2-5%; yes, I know it usually takes repeated contact, but.....
[ http://svm369.vetmed.lsu.edu/images/truman/Human%20and%20Armadillo%20Leprosy.pdf ]

I would suspect that pigeons are susceptible to most of the same diseases and parasites that chickens are. Sloppy gutting and incomplete cooking tends to be the basis of many of the bacterial/parasitical diseases from meat.

Shistosomaiasis is a tropical parasitical disease, and I don't believe it is found in the U.S..... today.

I saw squab on a menu once, and it did cause me to wonder if they had snares on the roof.

Sue

I'm not sure squab are the same as the English Rock Pigeon, which is the common urban bird most people think of when the term "pigeon" is used. I believe they are separate member of the family. Susan, with your background, can you shed any light on this?

Same bird according to the evil wikipedia;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_pigeon
Bill