Comments on: More methane

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:25:27 +0000

Ants you have to be starving not just hungry I have tried them when they have got into my tucker box I went hungry. The trouble with trying to eat some of these criters is they produce chemicals to make themselves taste terriable as a natural defence mechanisume. The best ones to eat I can think of are whichity grubs you preferably need an experianced aboriginal woman to cook them for you or be very careful handling them otherwise you could end up getting very itchy, ther have to be roasted in coals of a died down fire making sure the outside is crisp and all the hairy bits are well and trully burnt off as these are what makes you itch. Another one I can think of is an earth grub that lives just under decaying leaves and timber.It is white with a brown head about 25 to 50 mm long and 5 to 10 mm in diameter. These things can be cooked in much the same way you would cook other foods to make them taster as they are a bit tasteless. Just a word of cation if you are inclined to be alergic be a bit careful with these foods until you are sure you can tolerate them

By: Fran Barlow

Fran Barlow — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:15:46 +0000

David Irving (no relation)@133

Maybe it’s time for a book detailing the nutritional profile of various insects and exotic pests and plants, their taste and ideal preparation methods?

By: David Irving (no relation)

David Irving (no relation) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:03:37 +0000

I have eaten termites (once), John D and Chris – while I was in the Army we did a “live off the land” exercise for a few days. If you’re hungry enough, they’re quite tasty toasted on a skillet.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:38:54 +0000

Johh Let us know when you find some tasty ctiters

By: John D

John D — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 08:15:39 +0000

We have been eating a lot of kangaroo since it became available in the supermarkets because it is very low fat and a relativley cheap source of protein with k steak @ $14/kg and higher protein levels.

If we are serious about reducing the carbon footprint of the animal protein we eat we need to think beyond warm blooded animals – I have seen articles suggesting that it makes much more sense to eat crickets and other appropriate insects.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 06:48:32 +0000

still I like the roo farming blog. I could not agree more with old RM Williams that you need fat, one of my favourite dishes is roasted sheep ribs and they as you may know are very fatty. Also nothing like a good home made beef rolled rib roast, one that has not had the fat trimmed by a professional butcher before it was rolled. This makes good meat sandwiches for lunch you don’t need butter. I always eat the fat on a steak and do wonder if eating animal fat is really that bad for you if I have muesli or something like it for breakfast I sure am hungry by mid morning yet a couple of lamb chops for breakfast one meat sandwich for lunch and you don’t feel hungry all day. I quite like eating properly prepared roo meat but I can not handle it strait from the roo to the fry pan cooked in a bit of oil as I have had served to me once. Just too strong Uh.
FB I have never tried eating them either but I have noticed western grey and eastern wallaroos are quite fatty . Farming kangaroos is not as silly as it might sound but would require a completely different mind set from a management and regulatory point of view.
Those dung beetles I could not agree more with you on their importance and defectiveness.They definitely operate in very arid conditions if they can not operate I doubt cattle would either, have noticed severe drought knocks them around like any thing else but they seen to quickly recover. You have to be careful with some insecticides applied to cattle as these will really wipe them out then you really will have a buffalo fly problem.

By: furious balancing

furious balancing — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 05:50:17 +0000

Chris, there is a fair bit of information out there about the roo gut bacteria. The way I understand it the bacteria converts more of the food source to acetate which is an energy that can be used by the animal rather than needing to be emitted in the form of methane.

Most of the information floating around the net relates to how this bacteria may be used in conventional livestock, Google Dr Athol Klieve’s work with…er..I think it’s either the CSIRO or Primary Industries.

I think the kangaroo specific bacteria was first studied in the 1970′s.

Chris, regarding that blog, I don’t think this issue has ever been presented in a particularly thoughtful way, and I don’t think that blog is any exception. Again, I’m not advocating that kangaroos be ‘farmed’ in any conventional sense. We really do need to get over the same old ways of thinking, I reckon.

By: still@downfall

still@downfall — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:42:46 +0000

FB, Chris
There are quite a few species of dung bettle surviving & thriving. Possibly the most important insect introduced after the cacterblatus moth. The dung bettle plays a very important role in returning nutrient to the soil & reduces loss into the atmosphere. Its role in wrecking harvoc on the life cycle of the bush fly & the buffalo fly is worth millions. If you wait at dusk where cattle have camped you can actually hear the roar of the numerous dung bettle’s as they fly in. Landing is done by a nose dive straight into their belovered cow pad. Its amazing how much of a pad they can bury.

Downside is they are much less effective in drier seasons. I don’t know if they are operating in arid, semi – desert conditions.

FB, if you want to see how a blog thread would travel on the question of farming roos, check out this old blog posting.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:20:14 +0000

Chris still Re dung beetles The only dung beetles that get rid of cattle dung are imported. There were quite a few species imported from Africa in the 1960′s and early70′s and only a couple survived I understand. This was done because native dung beetles were adapted to utilizing the dryer pelated dung of mainly kangaroos and simply could not cope with sloppy cattle dung.The net result of this was a dramatic reduction in the bush fly population. Talk to any old ringer and he will tell you how when they whet mustering in the 50′s and 60′s on horse back you would be just black covered in fly We do no see that these days thanks to the imported beetles.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:46:25 +0000

FB With regard to kangaroos having a bacteria in their gut that stop or reduce their methane emission I have heard this too and it may be true but I can not find Any scientific documentation to substantiate this claim. I would be interested how this could work as in the process that I understand of breaking down grasses in order that an animal can use the nutrients the only thing this bacteria can possibly do is convert the methane produced by this process to co2 and water or maybe alcohol.Talk about eating kangaroo meat I might just eat the gut raw.A tip on eating kangaroo meat you can make it taste like any meat you like by adding a little fat of the meat you want it to taste like a when you cook it, this is because it is so lean it will readily up take any fat even chicken.Kangaroo is the cheapest protein in the world and also kangaroo skin makes the strongest most plyable leather in the world. Ask “NIKE” the only trouble is the animal liberation movement campaign against it use in sports footwear.