Wear gloves, clean properly, cook well, avoid organ meat.

Latex gloves or similar to begin with. I would want to retrieve the animal and get it into a bug-tight container right away with as little handling as possible. From there I could transport to a secure location but not my domecile directly. From there I can treat the carcass so as to eliminate external parasites, and then begin the dressing process. I'd want to avoid fleas, ticks, and such transiting from the dead animal to the next nearest host if I can. Sometimes that can be by freezing the carcass, sometimes by applying a flame to burn off the fur, if done properly. You could also fumigate the critter, assuming you can do it without chemically contaminating the carcass and making it toxic for consumption. I'd avoid harvesting any animals that appear sick or otherwise act peculiarly.

While there's not much you can do to remediate an animal that has been chemically contaminated, cooking meat to a well done state would pretty much elimnate most biological issues. Be extra careful with visceral handling on rodents due to things like Tularemia and such. Having plenty of clean water to work with would be necessary as well. After that it becomes an issue of proper storage and preservation methods.

Really, it's not that much different from how you should handle small animals in the wild anyways. It's just that with an urban environment, the incidence of infestation, infection, and contamination will be considerably higher. Pigeons and other urban dwelling avian contract shisto-somiasis a lot more, which is fatal for them, and produces flu-like symptoms in healthy humans. Pest control toxins administered en masse by local authorities in anticipation of a biologic hazard dispersion would be a significant consideration.

Just applying some reasoning from what I've already been aware of under normal conditions.

"Wow, those are good enough reasons to buy a few cases of beans, rice, and spam just in case. What, a months worth of food for $20?"

May I assume that someone else does your grocery shopping?

Sue

"There are also legalities involved. I'm thinking: discharging a firearm in city limits, trespassing, hunting out of season, etc."

If things get so bad that a lot of people are hungry, many of the laws mentioned wouldn't be enforced, because there are going to be more important issues any kind of law enforcement will be dealing with, if there is any kind of law enforcement.

Besides, under extreme circumstances of massive food shortages, those animals will disappear in short order. I would suspect that no one is going to acquire many calories from urban hunting.

Sue

[quote=SusanBesides, under extreme circumstances of massive food shortages, those animals will disappear in short order. I would suspect that no one is going to acquire many calories from urban hunting. Sue [/quote]

Shift to animal husbandry as a survival tactic?

"Shift to animal husbandry as a survival tactic?"

Sure, as long as you kept them fairly close to protect them. Chickens are the first that come to mind, as they can scrounge for some of their food and like insects. You can increase their protein intake (needed for egg production) by growing maggots in garbage in warm weather, and they will eat a certain amount of fresh garbage, and they like quite a bit of regular grass.

But I think if you're staying in an urban area during a long-term food shortage (where it doesn't come down to people plucking blades of grass for food), maintaining a good stock of vegetable seeds suitable for your area would be your best bet, plus saving seed from the resulting crop (you'd have to let some fruits mature to get ripe seed).

If things got bad, even if you don't have much of a yard, your neighbors would be willing to donate their lawn areas to grow veggies, and help you with the labor and protection.

Just a tip on converting lawns to veggie gardens: Don't peel up the sod and throw it away. Either peel it up and just turn it over so it rots, or cover the area with something that will kill the grass: cardboard, thick layers of newspapers, plywood, sheetrock, etc. That clump of soil and grass has some nutrient value, so don't throw it away.

The two easiest (and quietest) domestic animals to grow for food are chickens and rabbits. Both provide quality manure.

Sue

Didn't the Inca / don't Peruvians raise guinea pigs for food?

Fortunately most pathogens and parasites are not capable of transmission from their normal host to humans. Of those few that can be transmitted between their normal host and humans are usually stopped by normal sanitation measures and cooking. Those few cases where it has gotten around these barriers it has been quite interesting, like the black plague.

So get your 'rat-on-a-stick' well done.

Yep. I just came back from Ecuador, where they were selling live guinea pigs for food in local markets. (The bit I tried was mostly bones.)

Plague and hanta virus are mainly transmitted by fleas.

So, maybe dipping your catch in a pot of boiling water for a couple of minutes would kill them and make the creature easier to pluck or skin? It works for tomatoes and fowl, don't know about mammals.

Tularemia (rabbit fever) can be transmitted by contact with infected animal tissues or ticks. My vet says we don't have it in this area, ask yours.

Sue