Posted on 03/02/2012 7:30:19 AM PST by SmithL
A collective gulp was almost detectable this week when California Fish and Game Commission President Daniel Richards defiantly declared to outraged legislators that he not only gunned down a mountain lion and held the carcass like a trophy, but he then ate big cat for dinner.
The revelation that Richards complied with the backcountry rule that you eat what you shoot didn't do much to quiet calls in the Capitol for his head, but the perfectly legal shooting and consumption of puma meat certainly raised questions about his diet.
As odd and unappetizing as the dish may sound, it isn't unusual for hunters to consume cougar meat, according to hunting groups.
"Eating them is common. We serve it to our guests," said Joseph Peterson, the manager of the Flying B Ranch in Idaho, where Richards paid $6,800 for an all-inclusive, seven-day hunting expedition that resulted in the notorious photograph of him grinning and hugging the lion carcass.
"We save most of the lions we shoot," said Peterson, adding that catamount cutlets are milder and tastier than bear and horse meat, which he has also tried.
Richards, appointed to the commission in 2008 by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, expounded on the subject Thursday, declaring filet of puma a culinary delight.
"It doesn't taste like chicken," he told conservative talk radio hosts John and Ken in Los Angeles. "The closest thing is pork loin. It's a white meat. It's really good, and actually in frontier times it was a delicacy because it's tough to bag one of them."
The photo of Richards first appeared in a Western Outdoor News blog after his January excursion - along with his quote, "I'm glad it's legal in Idaho"
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Hey, all, here's the follow-up to that mountain lion story of a week or two ago.
Ping!
“Tastes like chicken!”
Real men eat only beef. Plus they can have chicken for Sunday dinner. And venison. Cooked by their wives. I mean wife.
Now that hunting has been kaboshed, the poachers are wiping them out.
Wildlife was a valuable resource when they brought in rich tourist hunters.
Now, not so much.
I’m no judge of the size of Mountain Lions but that looks like a pretty big one.
We live in bizarro world.
“hunter”
“ate”
“cougar”
Sounds like a plot for a “film” that Georgetown slore could star in.
Skin it and put it on the wall.
That doesn’t surprise me and like you say, “good for him.”
Some years back I was invited to a potluck type dinner of a large hunting group and their families in So OR. One of the meat dishes was cougar ham and it was not much different, if any, than regular ham. I liked it and so the wife.
I think the reason so many people turn their nose up at eating cougar is the thought of it, it’s just meat and not bad at all.
This whole thing is strictly political, the RATS in CA want to replace him with a Lib.
Thanks for the ping, Fly.
Here in Alaska, lynx is considered a delicacy, well at least out in the rural areas; in Anchorage people only eat store bought foods. We have a couple local trappers and they have a waiting list for lynx carcasses for human consumption, no joke.
Uh, only when she gets much older....
He offended the sensibilities of the liberals. That’s what going on here. Even though he was on a legal hunting trip, with a legal weapon, no laws of any kind broken, the liberals are offended that he would go hunting. And to add insult to injury, he ate the animal he hunted.
The liberals are outraged by this, so this man must be destroyed. It doesn’t matter that everything was perfectly legal in this case. That doesn’t matter when you offend the sensibilities of powerful liberals. The fact that they are offended is the only thing that matters.
If you like Chinese food you’ve been eating cats for years.
I believe you FRiend and thanks for relating it.
You never noticed how lazy cats are? That's what makes meat tender.
I was happy when I didn’t know that.
LOL!
I’ve loved Chinese food since I was a kid and have suspected that for many years.
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