Tondeleo: After talking with Marilyn about Big Dave serving them road kill deer - and discovering that Doc and Marilyn had served me road kill deer, raccoon and opossum, I decided to contact Big Dave and ask a few questions about eating "road kill."
I had his number in my mobile, so I rang him up. After several attempts, he did finally answer. Big Dave is not much of a talker, and I do find him quite intimidating. I explained to him the purpose of my call, and proceeded to interview him the best I could.
Here is the best I could get on a conversation with Big Dave as to eating road kill.
Tondeleo: Big Dave, I wanted to ask you some questions about eating road kill. Doc and Marilyn say that you are the best person to talk to about it, so here we are... I have never knowingly eaten road kill, but Marilyn says that they have fed it to me regularly. Now I want to know a little more about this strange habit...
Big Dave: Nothin' strange about it. It's FREE MEAT. Free and fresh from God's big refrigerator - it's December, man.
You people eat food that was killed by having its throat slit at a slaughterhouse. We eat food that was killed by a car. It don't make no difference how it died, long as it's fresh.
But what I'm eatin' aint got no hormones in it and it's raised natural. Organic. That ought to appeal to you. You ain't even know what you're eating, when you buy meat at the store.
What I'm eatin' for Christmas dinner don't cost me a dime. It's just settin' out there waiting for a hungry man to scoop it up and put some meat on the table. I'm havin' deer and fox this year, along with some vegetables I grew in my garden. It's all free.
As for road kill, when someone hits a deer and calls the cops, guess what they do with it? They take it up to Chuck's Butcher Shop who dresses it out an' then they give it to the food banks and homeless shelters! Poor folks eat road kill all the time and they ain't got no problems with it. You gotta eat. I got ground deer in my freezer right now what was given to me by the lady down the road who got it at the food bank. It's free meat.
Road kill aint just for poor folks, like you think. It's for anyone who needs meat or who just would rather have natural raised than the ones with chemicals in it what you buy at the store.
Tondeleo: So, Big Dave, how does one know if the animal on the side of the road is fresh enough to eat, or is even fit to eat at all?
Big Dave: Well, use your head. If it stinks, it aint no good. If it's got maggots on it, it aint no good. If it's smashed flat or its guts are spilled all over the road, I ain't touchin' it.
If the eyes are clouded over with white it’s been dead several hours, but that don't mean the meat's bad. If it still has fleas on it, that means it's probably still good enough to eat. When the meat goes bad, the fleas take off for something better to eat.
Usually on a deer, it only has damage on one side, so you have about most of it that's good enough to eat. You might lose a hip on one side, to being bruised. You can give that to the dogs. They like it fine. I mean they can't tell it's bruised. It just tastes like meat to them.
Tondeleo: How about after rigor mortis sets in... you know, once it's gone stiff. You can't eat it then, can you, Big Dave?
Big Dave: Sure. They go stiff pretty quick. I eat 'em all the time what was stiff when I found them. If they don't stink and they aren't busted up too bad, you can eat them.
You can eat pheasants, foxes, badgers, rabbits, all of 'em. If the blood is red, they are very fresh. If it's fresh, you can eat it. I call it God's Grocery Store.
This interview went a bit longer and I will save if for another posting, where we get specific on how to field dress a deer.
