Rabbit Stew Blues
My homesteading life rarely leads into the kitchen. Pan does most of the cooking and for good reason. She is amazing and is able to blend homemade with ‘good-for-you’ with delicious. Me? I am quite astute at mixing grill with darkened meat with edible.
I must confess though that we are pretty well stuck in either “chicken mode” or “beef mode” with a bit of pork every so often. We rarely have fish as it is so hard to get fresh when you live in middle Georgia. Good deer meat is rare as well and we are pretty picky about who we accept it from since – it has been my experience – the taste is all in the cleaning and preparation. And game? Well, game is just beyond us. Until recently.
While strolling along the Interwebs one rainy Saturday I came across a recipe for some hearty, rabbit stew. “Rabbit stew,” I asked myself? I had honestly thought that existed only in Elmer Fudd cartoons. But here was an easy to follow, delicious looking recipe for such. I decided we should try it.
According to my family rabbit had been a staple of my grandfathers diet and so I figured I must have some predetermined qualities that would allow me to catch one of these oft-forgotten critters. I set about researching how to make a rabbit trap. I had seen rabbit droppings and foot prints in the orange clay so I knew they were prevalent in my area.
I decided on a simple, wooden rabbit trap perfectly laid out by “Dwayne’s This and That.”
Within a half hour I was ready to set it out and within a day or two, I figured, would be reading up on how to clean and prepare the rabbit I had caught.
Pan and I took the trap out in one of our back fields being careful not to let too much of our scent permeate the box. Once in position we put in the bait; peanut butter, carrots and lettuce. We then set the door and sprayed some apple cider around the perimeter. I had such a good feeling about this endeavor.
Week 1. Nothing. I find all sorts of things to blame it one – weather, trap building, smart rabbits.
Week 2. Nothing. Discouragement begins to set in and I question my ability to actually homested.
Week 3. SUCCESS!
Last night Pan and I went down to the trap to see it had been tripped. The box was heavy and because we heard no noise we figured the rabbit had expired. I knew this was not ideal and figured this would be a lost cause.
When we arrived up to the house I lifted the door up a bit so Pan could take a picture of what was inside. As the flash went off I watched her mouth utter the words, “It’s hairy…..it’s a possum….ewwwwww….a possum!” I quickly shut the door.
The rest is fairly uneventful. We took the box back down and dumped the possum…well, the two possums (yes, two had found their way into our trap)….back where they came from. We took the trap up to the shop to be reconstructed and aired out in the hopes of trying again. But even with all this rabbit adventure I began to think to myself how I might have felt if I was a true homesteader without a job to support us. I have heard of possum stew and I can see how if you live off the land and all you catch is a possum, you do what you have to. But I was still a bit discouraged the rest of the night and wondered how I would have done things differently.
In the meantime, I look at my trap and my bait and my stew recipe, hoping that one day I will catch more than a case of the rabbit stew blues!
February 9th, 2010 at 11:40 pm
This reminds me of my discussion with Zeb today. We were talking about sustainability and how ultimately the most sustainable things are things we just can’t imagine ourselves doing; we’ve become too comfortable in our lifestyles to give up our cars or TVs or (heaven forbid) our computers, even if it does mean an unsure future. Therefore real or “perfect” sustainability remains a stretch for most to accomplish because of the serious sacrifices necessary and will be unlikely until we “have to”.
I’m pretty sure eating possum would definitely fall into the category of serious sacrifice for me. I’m sure when push comes to shove we do what we must. Until then I’ll settle for my grass-fed beef from two hours away that I pay for online and pickup at the farmer’s market on the Strip.
February 10th, 2010 at 7:58 am
You are absolutely right and Zeb should be thankful for his unschooling lessons. I am 31 and just now learning some of the stuff you are “teaching” him. Absolute sustainability is almost a ridiculous notion in our society. We simply have not seen a time where we HAVE to do what we HAVE to do. There are too many shortcuts and hidden luxuries.
The other day I was talking to some friends online about Pan and I’s desire to live on a small “compound” or to live communally or something of that nature. This includes living in a more secluded area. The question arose, “Would you still have Internet so we could get in touch with y’all?” I didn’t know how to respond. I mean, my heart says “hell no!” but my head says “yeah, probably.”
Thus is the case with the opposum. Never in a million years would I opt to eat it. But if my family was hungry and after 3 weeks all we had trapped was this rodent then I guess we would make it work. We would HAVE to.
Brings up some very interesting points. BTW – we too buy grass-fed beef. NOTHING like it. Yummmmmeeeeee.