Are Possums Good Eating?

[Dustin07]

I was reading that they taste like pork, but someone told me that the possums we have up here aren't like the ones from the south and that I shouldn't eat it.

with all the things that I 'should' eat, I don't know if I believe it. Is there any reason not to eat a possum?

[Gobble]

My lab  loves them, So far he's killed 5 

[Huntbear]

I knew someone that ate them and loved it.... would live trap em, then feed them rice and vegetable scraps for about 2 weeks to clean their system out.  Then would butcher and eat them.....

Possums are possums, whether here or in Alabama!

[Dustin07]

I knew someone that ate them and loved it.... would live trap em, then feed them rice and vegetable scraps for about 2 weeks to clean their system out.  Then would butcher and eat them.....

Possums are possums, whether here or in Alabama!

I actually just finished reading an article that recommended feeding them table scraps to get the carrion out of the system before killing them, funny!

[Machias]

They are awesome  most guys will cook them on a slab of pine in the oven, and then throw out the possum and eat the slab of pine.   

[blindpig]

They are awesome  most guys will cook them on a slab of pine in the oven, and then throw out the possum and eat the slab of pine.   



Now that is funny

[atomicjoe23]

You couldn't pay me to eat a possum!!! Fed table scraps or rice or whatever. . .my experience with these critters is that they are vile and disgusting. . .we had problems with them all the time when I was younger and my sisters had horses. . .we coulnd't get rid of them. . .no matter how many we killed there were always more!!!

[shoot-em-dead]

You gonna have ta mix it with coyote and mouse

[Michelle_Nelson]

LOL, I say don't knock it til you've tried it.

I'd try it.  Why not I doubt it will kill you.   They probably do carry diseases and such but so does every other species of animal.  I'd give them a bath befor I skinned them.

[bow4elk]

I was reading that they taste like pork

Then go buy some pork...I'd have to be starving to even consider eating one of those rats.

[huntnphool]

I'll bet Longtat would know

[runamuk]

Well if anyone does eat a possum, they can be an honorary member of the "you ain't right club"

... cuz in my opinion opossum eating qualifies

[IBspoiled]

I got a coon once and looked up a recipe for racoon stew.  It referred to coon, possum and armadillo all in the same category.  When I skinned the coon, I inspected the intestines and liver and made sure there were no spots or weird stuff inside.  I fried up a small piece to see if it tasted good, it tasted like dark turkey meat.  Then I proceeded to make a large pot of coon stew.  My daughter was at work all day and was hungry when she got home.  I told her the stew was on the stove.   She ate most of the bowl, before my wife spilled the beans and told her what she was eating.    It all tasted fine and all got ate.  Let me know what it tastes like, there are a few around here.  They might find a place in my stew pot!

[rasbo]

I would eat my hunting buddies arm first

[ICEMAN]

Mmmmm, good eatin' !

[Red Dawg]

 

[GEARHEAD]

holy crap was that a serious question, thinking they don't taste like chicken

[bow4elk]

I would eat my hunting buddies arm first

I would eat my hunting buddy's armPIT first 

[shoot-em-dead]

Iceman, you goin to share the rest of your recipie

[ICEMAN]

That freshy laying in the grass is about to go on a skewer. Possumkabob style!

[shoot-em-dead]

What type of sauce gives the best flavor

[Red Dawg]

are you sure you want to ask him that

[shoot-em-dead]

Sure, that's what this is about right. good possum eating. I can say for myself that I've never considered it before. I've never been driving down the road and thought, what a waist of good meat. But after seeing Icemans pic, I still don't have the desire

[PolarBear]

My Uncle use to cook up possum, raccoon, squirrel, rabbit, gator, armadillo, etc.  If I remember right, possum and raccoon tastes like really greasy and musty pork.

[bow4elk]

tastes like really greasy and musty pork.

 

[ICEMAN]

tastes like really greasy and musty pork.

 

 

[runamuk]

mmmmmmm musty pork   

[PolarBear]

They are easier to choke down if you use a little of this.

[logger]

I am pretty sure you can only get opossum helper at the rainier market.

[509er]

 

[runamuk]

Well if you get serious and need some other recipes let me know.....I have a cookbook that should contain a few...

The treasury of White trash cooking 

for instance here are some recipe names from the book

Smoked mullet dip 

Cooter kebabs...Iceman might like that recipe 

baked possum and sweet potatoes

Glennie nells roast christmas possum

hogs head cheese 

The book even tells you how to butcher some of the critters right in the recipe

[MuleySniper]

MMMMMMMMMM, backstraps, tenderloins......

[ICEMAN]

Mmmmmmm, cooter....

[509er]

I would have to be DAMN hungry!  even then I think I could kill something better.

[MuleySniper]

Or just really drunk

[509er]

 

[Michelle_Nelson]

I think if we were to put a possum in front of Iceman he could make it into some pretty good eats. 

Possums are kinda cute as long as they don't smile at you.

[bow4elk]

Saw a car hit one loaded up with babies.  It looked like a possum bomb went off, with little baby possum nuggets all over the road.  I suppose the babies could be batter dipped and deep fried whole...yummy crunchy hell nuggets!

[logger]

michelle, cute holy crap not even close, those things would kill the maggots off a gut wagon.

[MuleySniper]

"Crunchy hell nuggets"
MS

[atomicjoe23]

I had 'coon stew once when I was a lot younger at one of the mountain man/blackpowder rendezvous type things. . .the stew had coon, squirrel, and rabbit it it. . .it was good. . .so I would eat coon. . .I would have to be starving and have no other options to eat a possum though. . .

[bowhunterforever]

I would never eat possum! Thats just sick!

[rasbo]

I would eat my hunting buddies arm first

I would eat my hunting buddy's armPIT first 

[bowhuntin]

  I think I would rather try eating dirt before I ate a possum. Those things look like overgrown rats. 

[ICEMAN]

No kidding. Those I see run over and opened up don't look like red meat to me....    Maybe they are the other white meat?   

Plus, I used to have the only kill what you intend to eat philosophy....then I started hunting coyote and whacking the occasional problem opossum... my philosophy has changed...

[Airnip]

Probably worst sounding recipe seen in a quick search was "possum pecker pie".           Here is the wiki:
"[edit] As food
The opossum was once a favorite game animal in the United States, and in particular the southern regions which have a large body of recipes and folklore relating to the opossum. Opossum was once widely consumed in the United States where available as evidenced by recipes available online[12] and in books such as older editions of The Joy of Cooking. A traditional method of preparation is baking, sometimes in a pie or pasty[1], though at present "possum pie" most often refers to a sweet confection containing no meat of any kind. In Dominica and Trinidad opossum or "manicou" is popular and can only be hunted during certain times of the year due to over-hunting; the meat is traditionally prepared by smoking then stewing. The meat is light and fine grained, but the musk glands must be removed as part of preparation. The meat can be used in place of rabbit and chicken in recipes. The cousin of the opossum, the possum, found in Australia (and introduced to New Zealand) is consumed in a similar manner. [13]

Historically, hunters in the Caribbean would place a barrel with fresh or rotten fruit to attract opossums who would feed on the fruit or insects. Cubans growing up in the mid-twentieth century tell of brushing the maggots out of the mouths of "manicou" caught in this manner to prepare them for consumption. It is said also that the gaminess of the meat causes gas.[citation needed]

In Mexico, opossums are known as "tlacuache" or "tlaquatzin". Their tails are eaten as a folk remedy to improve fertility.

Opossum oil (Possum grease) is high in essential fatty acids and has been used as a chest rub and a carrier for arthritis remedies given as topical salves."

Evidently one of the first things is to cut off the legs and toss in order to remove the musk glands. Read up on them while back. After live trapping some in my urban back yard. Most interesting opposum fact was that they actively hunt kill and eat norway rats. They die of old age in only about two years. 

There was a rabbit breed to fake their fur. Opossum rex. Extinct now. Never bothered to skin a opossum out for lunch. Apparently once they were considered a fur bearing good eating game animal here in the United States.

[shoot-em-dead]

That's just gross.

[FrankDown]

Ive eaten opposum before.  I wouldnt eat any of the dumpster divers inthe city.  In the marsh along the coast they eat a lot of crabs, mussles, and things like that.  Clean them and remove anything under the legs or arms like you would a squirrel.  I used a slow cooker with potatoes, carrots, onion, and spices.  Racoons, groundhogs, squirrels, rabbits, and probably more can be cooked the same way.  It is a bit greasy though, it is a bit like dark turkey meat.  Once it all cooks off the bone in the slow cooker you cant tell what it is anyway.  I never noticed any more gas than normal after I ate it.

[wrangler]