Possum a la derwood?

[Beernutz]

Derwood, where's yer manners?<br /><br />Ya can't just shoot a possum and eat it! Such a fine southern delicacy needs to be prepared with love (caution?). You gotta cure 'em before you kill 'em.<br /><br />After ya trap one, keep it in a pen and feed it corn, til it turns yellow under its chin. Then it's ready for the outdoor oven.<br /><br />Let me know how it comes out. I wouldn't touch one with a ten-foot pole!

 

[12Footer]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

Possum tastes nasty...Kinda like veal on acid.<br />But Beernutz is right about corn-feeding it a while. Wild game of any kind is allmost inedable (at least to me), depending on it's natural diet ,of course. But nothing can realy make 12Footer try it again.

 

[derwood]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

There is no way i will eat a possume....Don't worry about that.<br /><br />When i was living in my first trailer after i got married a possume crawled up through a small hole in the kitchen floor next to the front door where the rain had made the floor weak.<br /><br />I got razzed for being a redneck for shooting wild game in the house by my freinds.<br /><br />Shot it from 2 ft away with a pellet gun and pelets in the head three times....and it did not die.<br /><br />It's skull just started to grind around as it tried to move it's mouth to bite me....they are tougher than a junk yard dog when corrnerd.<br /><br />If it can live through that....I don't want to know what it's been eaten and i sure won't be eaten it.<br /><br />Derwood.

 

[WaterHog]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

It dont taste like chicken!!! Does it??

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

I was under the impression that it takes two people to eat possum.....One eats and the other directs traffic <br /><br />Bob

 

[sloopy]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

heyI have eaten it (don't ask) it's a pit chewy!

 

[Ross J]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

Yes Possum is very edible, as long as it's well cooked. I ate the wee blighters a number of times on one job when the boss failed to show up with the tucker (we were well in the bush). <br />I admit it isn't what you'd buy in the market but don't knock it till you've tried it!<br />Over here the craze is trapping them live, fattening them up in pens and then they're killed for export meat to asia. They're paying between $12 - $6 per depending how desperate they are to get more. The fur is fetching $50 a kilo.<br />We call them Kiwi bears, and they're a pest here. There's some data out and if I have it correct they are supposed to eat more than 3,000 ton of foliage per night throughout En Zed!<br />I've personally shot more than 400 in one night with the spotlight. Talk about smoking barrels.....<br />Ross

 

[derwood]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

You would have a better chance of getting me to eat liver smotherd in cockroaches....not a chance!<br /><br />Derwood.

 

[crab bait]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

DERWOOD,, hands-down .. you are the 'redneck king' .. cooler of fish in your wifes parlor.. an shootin' apossum in your 'FIRST' trailer.that came thru a 'HOLE' in the floor... Y O U . D A . M A N ...<br /><br />BOB VT.. my land ,, that's funny.. that's the best one-liner i ever heard..!!

 

[derwood]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

If you only knew.<br /><br />Derwood.

 

[Beernutz]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

What's wrong with shootin' wild game in the livin' room?

 

[Beernutz]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

Derwood, they're kinda like a lot of people I know. You can't kill 'em by shootin' 'em in the head. You gotta hit a vital organ. Try flippin' one up on the pads on the Suwannee with an 8/0 hook, and wait on a biiiig largemouth sow. Hope possoms aren't classified as game fish....<br /><br />Ross, just curious. Do these critters hang right-side-up over there on the other side of the world? And what do they use the fur for? Scrub brushes? I'm not gettin' a clear picture of a possom fur coat.<br /><br />Bob's right. Those suckers sure have a hard time gettin' across the road! Kinda like Armadillos in that regard. Maybe some of our Texas cousins have some advise on Armadillo table fare. Possom-on-the-halfshell?

 

[Ross J]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

Skinned possum fur is a sought after pelt for fashion designers. Possum fur is one of only two that has a hollow centre which is air filled, thus providing an extraordinary amount of warmth in the winter months.<br />Possum fur which is plucked from the warm carcass is likewise prized for the manufacture of items such as felt and socks for the same warmth qualities.<br />They sit upright in the trees till you plug them with the trusty .22. Then if you're lucky they fall clean to the ground otherwise a couple of shots shoves them out of the branches. <br />An interesting aside, whats the last thing a male possum does before he dies?<br />Orgasms!! Go figure. <br />Possums are amazing animals, they are marsupials with a pouch. When they give birth the young moves up into the pouch and the mother is free to become pregnant again. She doesn't have to mate all over again as she can hold live semen in within her for fertilisation. She can breed every few weeks.<br />Yes it takes a bit to kill one without a firearm. I too can claim to have shot one indoors, it was a hoot with my mate running around in circles behind me to keep out of the way. I plugged the buggar in full sprint and it was only afterwards we realised the danger incurred. It had just leapt off the LPG cylinder!<br />I've also had one run up me as the tallest thing around. It was a bit like having sissorhands run up your back. Took some repairs to my back, not to mention how the buggar hung on on top of my head. I had to kill it with my magnalight torch! Took me nearly 15 blows to do the job! My mate **** near died with laughter, he still gets up a heap of bellowing whenever we talk about it.<br />One other use for the possum after shooting them, dog food. there's many a farm animal that gets a frozen possum passed through the band saw so there's two meals per animal. Farm dogs like it a lot!<br />My children were all bought up to experience the driving game of counting "Good Kiwi Bears" on the long field trips away from home. (A "Good Kiwi Bear" is a dead one laying on the road) Headlights blind them and many a possum's last vision has been a car or 4x4 comming up at a rate of knots.<br />Ross.

 

[Beernutz]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

So, we're doin' the males a favor by killin' 'em, huh? Ross, you sound like some kinda possum expert. I never suspected there was such a thing. But, then, y'all are the marsupial capital of the world. How'd these things get here from over there, anyway? 400 in one night, wow! And that fur thing. What a shock! Man, they're goin' to waste around here. There might be a new career here, derwood. Fur trader!<br /><br />I gotta go home and let one in the house. Sounds like fun! My wife'll love it. I dunno, though. I cornered one when I was kid. Never forgot the look of those teeth as it charged out of the corner after me. It jumped off a third story balcony, and hit the ground running. They're tough! And prolific, from the sounds of things.

 

[Fishbusters]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

Ross over here a possum looks like a rat with the mange. No hair on it's tail nad not worth a penny in the fur department. They arn't bad eating if fixed right but i prefer other forms of nourishment.

 

[SoulWinner]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?<br /><br />A: To show the opossum that it could be done!

 

[Beernutz]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

Ross, buddy, I was reading over my last post, and didn't like the way it sounded. I hope I didn't offend you. I meant no disrespect, and in fact intended it as a compliment. I've just never run into anyone who knew so much about these critters. And I was shocked to learn that they had any economic value. I know they serve a purpose, but we consider them mostly as a pest with a bad attitude. I sure wouldn't want one on my head! Our possums can really do some damage. I've never been bit, but considering their diet, I would expect a serious infection.<br /><br />I'm wondering if Peter might have a point. What do your kiwi bears look like over there?

 

[Fishbusters]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

The Possums over there are all furry and actually somewhat cute. The fact they have a value does not surprise me. Our possums are actually opossums and not the same critter at all. Originally I was a biology major till I took my first education course and decided I had found my true calling. Biology and the natural world especially wildlife has always been a love of mine and I consider myself an amature naturalist.

 

[Ross J]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

Beernutz,<br />you didn't offend me mate. I didn't even read it that way.<br />In my opinion this board is visited by good hard working honest fishermen/woman who all share the same goal, to make this an interesting, learning and sharing place. There's only one post that ever offended me and that was way back when some prat slung off about the 9/11 events.<br /><br />Peterfishbuster is right about the possum species, here's a photo that may help.<br /><br />

<br /><br />

<br /><br />Pretty wee buggers when they're on the tree. If you owned a farm then you'd see them in a different light indeed.<br />Ross

 

[12Footer]

Re: Possum a la derwood?

I remeber that "prat" on the 9-11 thing. He deserved your wrath