If so, what kind? How did u prepare them if any preparations at all? What are some good bugs and bad bugs? I personally dont think I could do it. Any suggestions on how to get em down? I know they are nutritionally good for you.

I don't have the experience to really say.... but this one time on survivorman... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />



If they bite back, they're bad <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Trying to bite this guy might make him angry...



In all seriousness, if you're dealing with smaller bugs like ants, you might considering grinding them u and putting them in a stew.

If you think you haven?t eaten insects and a few other nasty things... Here's a link for you. Originally this article was from Fortune, but when I went to link it there, they wanted money so I found an alternative.

All of the insects I've eaten were caught in country settings. Due to various insecticides and pesticides, I wonder about the safety of eating bugs. However, in a pinch...


I've eaten the following:

Grasshoppers - Roasted on a skewer and pan-fried. It's best to pull off their heads so that the stomachs, which are full of nasties, will come out attached. Discard whatever comes out with the head.

Locust - I had these prepared the same way as the grasshoppers.

Crickets - Roasted, Fried, and believe it or not once I had some that were dipped in chocolate. Of course I don't expect that in a survival situation I'll be able to fire up a fondue pot with chocolate in it... LOL

Black Ants - Raw and Boiled

Ant Eggs - Fried

Termites - Raw

Beetle Grubs - I've had these raw, roasted and fried with hot sauce.

Fly Maggots -I've had these boiled and fried. Eating these took the most effort on my part. I realized I have an aversion to it. Go figure... You'd think that these would have been as easy to eat as grubs, but for me they weren't. Really it?s their perceived diet more than their appearance that gets the old gag reflex going for me. I think it's due to the fact that a beetle grub will eat vegetation for the most part (at least this is what can readily be witnessed) and a fly maggot you can find eating its way through anything from poo to roadkill.

Earthworms - I've eaten these raw. I find if you can stomach the earthy taste of spinach, then worms are easy. I know, Earthworms are not an insect...

Bee Larvae - I had these as a hors d' oeuver at a party once... They were served right in a slice of the hive they had been cut from with a honey dip. The bee larvae were barely touched by the guests and yet the Tequila lollypops complete with worm and vodka scorpion lollypops were gone in seconds after hitting the table. LOL

Scorpion ? A few friends and I tried roasted scorpion. The person who cooked them removed the last couple of segments from the tail. I didn?t die, so I guess this worked. However, I?d like to do more reading on scorpions to see if this ensures that they are safe to eat. I admit I was caught up in a ?testosterone? moment. LOL I know these are not insects either.

Various Larvae ? I was in the Yucatan, and it?s a long story... LOL Basically, I saw the locals eating them, I figured It would probably be safe, and I was intrigued. This of course is not the best guideline to live by, but I made it through, and the spiced up larvae weren?t half bad.


Insects I haven?t tried:

Bees and Wasps - I?ve read that the only safe way to eat adult bees and wasps is crushed and cooked. I don?t know how safe this is. In training I was told if it stings I shouldn?t eat it, but then again I?ve had scorpion before, so...

Spiders ? There?s a lot of meat on some of those crawlers, but I don?t know which might be safe due to venoms and other poisons. I?ll have to read up on this. I know... Arachnids, not insects... LOL

Caterpillars ? I?ve heard, ?The ones that aren?t fuzzy can be eaten?, but I?d really like to study this more before using that as a guide. At times, simple rule-of-thumb info can be BS, especially when the person giving you the information barely has an opposable thumb to begin with. (This of course is a comment directed at the person who related this particular gem to me. He was a world class BS artist and someone who, I am sure, will get himself nominated for a Darwin Award in the not too distant future.) LOL

Moths and Moth Larvae ? I have no experience with eating them whatsoever.


I?ve tried more, but these are just a few off the top of my head. If I think of any others I?ll post about it later. I really need to get back to bed. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Oh, and I realize these are gastropods, but I've eaten slugs and snails as well. Snails I've had cooked in a variety of ways while slugs I've only had roasted on a stick. Yummy... Ugh. LOL

I ride a motorcycle, so the answer is yes, but usually not intentionally. <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Come down here to Australia in summer. The flys volunteer themselves and before you realise what they are doing 'gulp' there goes another one <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Yup! Plug your nose and swallow fast... use water! There are lots of other methods out there, but a bug is a bug no matter how you prepare it...

From "213 Things Skippy Can No Longer Do in the U.S. Army!" #189. Do not dare SERE graduates to eat bugs. They will always do it.

I find it amusing escargot are a french culinary delight, one of the most dangerous jobs on earth is crabbing for Alaska King crab and well dressed restaurant patrons can pick out their poor lobster from an aquarium next to some would be Billy Joel piano man. Yet introduce a cockroach and people panic. Kosher forbids shellfish because they are bottom feeders ( along with politicians <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />) and eat the decayed corruption of creation. But if you study the Bible, 'Manna from heaven' was in many cases Locusts in non plague numbers and provided survival food. Of course if you were Mormon the Seagulls appreciate this food supply better. I ate a dead seagull in survival school. I can assure you a handfull of grubs, worms or insects would have been prefered <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> It comes down to CULTURAL perceptions, dietary laws and taboos. I had lunch at a carniceria with this old amansadore. I managed 2 of the hottest peppers in all of creation. My compadre polished off 6. He said I was 'mui hombre' for a Gringo. Do you have ANY idea how many cervesas it takes to neutralise those things? Or that in California riding a horse drunk is citeable in our penal code? If it wasn't for a horse smarter than I deserve, I would have become meat for the worms, an ironic twist on this thread. Lifes hard, but it's ultimately impartial.

One of my coworkers is from India and always complains that they don't sell fried crickets at movie theaters here in the USA. Well, I was out canoeing this summer and found a river bank crawling with giant (2.5" long), slow-moving grasshoppers. A bunch were caught and two were toasted later that night for a snack. They actually tatsed somewhat like steak. A few days later I tracked down a webpage that identified the beasts. They were "Southern Lubber Grasshopper" and turns out they are poisonous. One is enough to make a raccoon sick. <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> Luckily I had only eaten two of them. I wrote about these on my blog:

http://intotheborderlands.blogspot.com/2005/07/they-taste-kind-of-like-steak.html

http://intotheborderlands.blogspot.com/2005/07/oops-they-are-toxic.html

-Blast

You would be surprised what you eat in normal canned food sold in stores.

I rode a motorcycle once with my mouth open...does that count?

The best I could do was ants. I tried to do a grub, but I just couldn't swallow the little bugger.

I prefer ants to whole spit roasted Armadillo.

I've never heard of ANYbody that liked armadillo... wouldn't rattlesnake be just as easy to catch/kill, and easier to clean???

Troy

When I was a young boy I ate those common black sugar ants. They did not taste much of anything. I think that you can catch them eastiest by using a stick and when they climb on it just eat from the stick. Another good way would be to have some sugarwater in a pot and wait that the ants climb there and get stucked inside the pot.

How many bottles of beer did it take to get the horse drunk?

I actually follow my heritage and include Guiness Stout when supplementing my horses. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I saw a horse stumbling all over the place once. The owners were convinced it was rabid or had a conditions called Wobbles. DVM comes out, walks in the barn and smells a partially eaten bag of fermented grain. Vet walks out, says " your horse is drunk, let him sleep it off in the pasture" presents a bill for $100 emergency call and no examination charge and drove off.

Nope, Armadillo's about the easiest critter to get. Nastiest, gamiest piece of greasy pork you could imagine. I hadn't eaten in three days, and I still could only manage three bites, and even at that had to hold my nose to swallow.

It don't help when you can't gut em out. All them juices they stew in tend to taint the meat some.

6 days later we were back in the chow hall, being served a peanut butter sandwich that looked like Moolah the Sumo had sat on it, and a glass of reconstituted powdered milk (lukewarm). I couldn't open my mouth to say thank you cuz it was waterin' so bad.

Does eating the worm at the bottom of a bottle of Mezcal count?


Nicodemus:
Didn't you try any of the cicadas during Virginia's Brood X invasion in 2004? Apparently they have a creamy center and taste kinda nutty.

Which brings up a quick question...
My shootin' skills are good enough where I might be able to take a squirrel, bunny, or armadillo (or even make a "squirrel pole" trap), but I have no idea what to do after that? I usually peel the celophane off and take the meat out of the styrofoam tray <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I know that you have to skin and gut the critter, but how can I find instructions on how to do this?

And once you have the critter chops, are you better off roasting over a fire, or making a stew (assuming that you have a pot)?

**EDIT**
And if you get a racoon, how do you make a "Davey Crockett" hat? <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Well, without a good cutting tool, you can forget about trying to dress out an Armadillo; you're just gonna mince him if you try and use a stick. Best I could recommend is spit roast the critter and scorch the fur off, then peel the skin if you need to so you can get at the meat. But if you can't gut em, be prepared for a most unsavory experience!!! <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

There's a number of survival books that demonstrate or describe dressing small game. If you really want to figure it out, buy a dozen eating rabbits live and giver 'er a go. The best way to find out is by direct experience. If you are really at a loss where to start, find someone who's done it and can show you how a time or two. You'll get the hang of it in no time.

Cicadas, there's one I forgot! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I had cicadas a couple of times during the Brood X hullaballoo.

Tenerals were the best. Just after shedding their shell and before the carapace and wings harden they're easy to chew on.

Later, after the transformation was complete and they had hardened, we tried them a few different ways like stir fried, steamed and raw.

Once again, we were worried about pesticides, so though we were able to gather a load of cicadas easily, we were fairly reserved in eating them.

I was told that the ones with meaty abdomens were female... I was eating bugs so that information didn't really strike me as crucial. LOL

I had to eat a couple, who knows what they were, in SERE school, I am thinking I would be real damn close to death before venturing there again............JB

Yes, I've eaten live Ants, (in the course of eating what decent edibles they were crawling on / beverage they were in), -without any qualm whatsoever. [color:"black"] [/color] [email]Mekanik[/email]

You can try to find an "Insectarium" like this one in Montreal, where they offer Insect Tasting !
Montreal Insectarium