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chiangmaimav
01-22-2010, 03:10 AM
I notice that many of jungle native people here do not eat insects and worms and such. My wife is one of these and I asked her about this as we were watching Man Vs. Wild once again and Bear was eating some raw beetle. She says this makes her sick. I said may people here eat bugs and you can buy insects at local markets. She says Isaan people eat bug. (Isaan is northeast area of Thailand.) I never eat bugs. I asked her what she did in the jungle when there was no food. She said "eat vegetable. Eat fish. Eat bird. No eat bug." Then she says ,"if Bearman want to eat bug, why he not make fire first and cook. If you eat and not cook you get sick." As I have written about previously in forum, wife is not impressed by this show. She thinks he has too much money and nothing to do.

I told her he gets paid a lot of money to eat bugs. She says, "good think he get money too much. Have to pay doctor."

crashdive123
01-22-2010, 06:11 AM
As I have written about previously in forum, wife is not impressed by this show.She sounds like a wise woman.

Pict
01-22-2010, 06:34 AM
My daughter (8 at the time) watching BG...

"Daddy, I don't like him. Don't do the things he does, you'll get hurt."

Mac

Sourdough
01-22-2010, 06:56 AM
I like BUGS.........King Crab, Snow Crab, Shrimp, Lobsters.....Mmmm Bugs Good.

Batch
01-22-2010, 08:47 AM
And mud bugs too!!!

rwc1969
01-22-2010, 06:29 PM
Good point. In the south my family never ate bugs and they were dirt poor hillbillies. They ate all kinds a nasty ****, but not bugs.

my other family up here in MI never ate bugs either and they were real poor too during the depression.

I think bug eating must be a micro cultural/ regional thing.

hunter63
01-22-2010, 08:41 PM
I don't eat bugs either, unless I catch one accidentally when riding on bike or 4 wheeler.
Moths tastes nasty, june bugs hurt.

Anyone that ever rode a 4 wheeler down trails knows about the swipe stick, for webs and such.

oly
01-22-2010, 11:14 PM
I eat bugs, unknowingly but bugs lay there eggs in fruits and vegetables.

Ted
01-23-2010, 12:42 AM
Never lived in the jungle, but when I'm fishing, if a grasshopper lands too near, you bet your butt I'll torch him with my bic, pull off his head and spiney part of leg and eat him!

huntermj
01-23-2010, 01:06 AM
No you dont scare me at all.
LOL

Ole WV Coot
01-23-2010, 11:11 AM
Local people know best anywhere you go. I did take a bite of a softshell crab in my younger years without ill effects. He looked at me, I looked at him and bit him between the eyes. One of us was pretty drunk but I was "convinced" that was the way they were eaten.

oly
01-23-2010, 12:18 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSoa7yuzesE
So you still think you dont eat bugs?

your_comforting_company
01-23-2010, 12:33 PM
many insects carry parasites. It is dangerous to eat raw bugs because human beings have evolved to be dependent on cooked food. Our bodies just can't handle the things in food that it could 6 million years ago before the discovery of how to make fire.
I suggest that cooking your bugs is much better than eating them raw for that simple reason.
I have never intentionally eaten bugs, unless a worm in an apple counts, and as long as I can make fire and find other wild edibles I will refrain from eating anything raw, especially insects. I'm pretty sure crabs aren't insects.

FVR
01-23-2010, 12:33 PM
Not much on eating bugs. May try a large 1/2lb grasshopper oneday but it will have to be cooked and his head will be mounted.

Oh and.......

Bear is an idiot.

Seems to be a theme on most internet sites and facebook even has a Bear is a poser page.

Oh did I mention, Bear is an idiot?

Ted
01-23-2010, 03:29 PM
On the radio the other day they said that 90% of us have swallowed at least one spider that crawled into our mouths while sleeping!...LOL

hunter63
01-23-2010, 04:55 PM
On the radio the other day they said that 90% of us have swallowed at least one spider that crawled into our mouths while sleeping!...LOL
I heard that as well, I think we're talking "on purpose".

Ted
01-23-2010, 08:00 PM
I don't eat bugs either, unless I catch one accidentally when riding on bike or 4 wheeler.
Moths tastes nasty, june bugs hurt.

.

I've done that too, I think we're taking about "on purpose!"

hunter63
01-23-2010, 08:18 PM
Ted, how right you are,LOL

chiangmaimav
01-24-2010, 07:22 AM
Coincidentally I just saw tv show on Thai tv which was about dangers of eating insects. It showed people who had swallowed stingers and pincers of various bugs and what it did to them. Also some people died because bugs had ingested pesticide and then were eaten by people.

Durtyoleman
01-24-2010, 09:30 AM
I ain't goin bug hunting but protein is protein in a needful situation. The army didn't give us much choice on diet at times...lol they said do and we did. Fortunately most times we have a choice and are free to exercise said choice. I have a friend who is a missionary and she spent some time in other countries and ate what they did....she told me of her diet of cooked grubs and worms (which she said needed catsup badly). I'll pass if micky d's is open, if not, guess I am grubbin' on grubs.


D.O.M.

rwc1969
01-24-2010, 08:16 PM
Speaking of eating bugs and Mc'D's. What is that new McDouble made of?

It used to be the double cheeseburger on the dollar menu, now the double cheese is listed elsewhwere for more than a buck, and the new dollar "burger?" is called the McDouble. Mc Double what?

I asked em "what was in it?" and they said "meat!" ?????

crashdive123
01-24-2010, 08:19 PM
I'm guessing the difference is no cheese?

Rick
01-24-2010, 08:28 PM
Now there's a new commercial. Instead of "Where's the beef?", it could be "Who cut the cheese?".

Camp10
01-24-2010, 08:33 PM
Would you like to super size your cut cheese, sir?

RangerXanatos
01-24-2010, 10:33 PM
The McDouble is the same as the Double Cheeseburger except it has only 1 slice of cheese instead of two.

crashdive123
01-25-2010, 12:06 AM
Soooooooooo. They did cut the cheese.

Ted
01-25-2010, 01:02 AM
soooooooooo. They Did Cut The Cheese.

Roflmao!!!!!!!!!!

neondog
01-25-2010, 01:08 AM
I've eaten lots of cooked bugs when I was down on my luck, cleaning out the cupboard and found that the Jiffy mix was buggy. Also ate a lot of ants as a youngster. The small black ones had a habit of crawling all over the wild strawberries so me and my friend decided we'd just eat the whole package. No ill effects that I could notice over the hunger pains.

klkak
01-25-2010, 01:51 AM
Mom, my sisters and I were real poor when I was a kid. Mom didn't feed us bugs. I shot deer, coons, squirrel, porcupines, some birds, caught fish in the creek....whatever I could get my sights or hands on and mom cooked it with the veggies from the garden.

There are to many things out there to eat other then bugs!

note: (Bear is an idiot)

rwc1969
01-25-2010, 01:20 PM
The McDouble is the same as the Double Cheeseburger except it has only 1 slice of cheese instead of two.


Same meat? I think it's made of nightcrawlers or something.

Old GI
01-25-2010, 01:55 PM
I used to eat bugs all the time - then I had to stop riding my Sportster.:innocent:

sgtdraino
01-27-2010, 05:30 PM
How does this jive with the general rule that, if you don't know any better, it is safer to eat unidentified things that crawl, than it is to eat unidentified plants?

mcgyver
02-05-2010, 02:24 PM
One day I arrived at my friends house just as he was removing a small meatloaf from the oven.
It had been a long three hour drive, so when he said "your just in time for supper" I was happy for the offer. It was some of the best meatloaf I've ever had.
After supper, while shooting the breeze over a cocktail he grins and asks if I really liked his meatloaf.
Uh oh! Why I ask.
As he get up and starts to run, he tells me it was 50% earthworm.
Well after about 15 minutes of chasing him around the house with a chair leg, I calmed down enough to admit It was really good.
He explained that he boiled and skimmed the crawlers then mixed them 50-50 with hamburger before making the meatloaf.
In hide sight, I'm not sure I would have tried it knowing ahead of time what it was, but I would eat it again after trying it.
I know I'm talking worms, not bugs. But really, once you crossed the line?

hybrid
03-11-2010, 11:37 AM
Aborigines used to treat some "bugs" as a bit of a staple food in some areas, sometimes a treat in others. Sugarbag ants in particular are very highly regarded, though they are a desert rather than a rainforest thing. Bogong moths, hoppers, a few different kinds of bugs were all chowed on and in some places still are. Everything but the sugarbag ants gets cooked. Termite larvae get toasted too.

Some bugs can make you pretty sick, whether from pesticide residue (though you would have to eat quite a few for that to be a serious issue, most pesticides being cumulative in nature), having themselves been eating toxic plants, pathogens from plants, soil and dung, and some just come preloaded with toxins.

Insects are also high in chitin... the same stuff fungi are made of. It is VERY hard for most people to digest this stuff and in the same way as fungi, people have confused a serious pain in the stomach with actual poisoning. Most cultures that have made an art of eating bugs typically dry toast over coals, or fry up with seasonings and vinegar etc to break it down a little, just like fungus.

Monarch butterflies make a lot of cats sick, apparently.Many caterpillars here are very nasty to eat and often have irritant hairs. Irritation and injury from caustic compounds, and sharp parts could lead to GI tract issues.

Basically, treat bugs as the meat they pretty much are. Cook well, don't eat from shady sources and accept that a farm raised lamb is probably safer eating than some rat you caught in a sewer :P

Or use them as bait to catch a nice feed of fish.

OldLaughingLady
04-03-2010, 04:11 AM
I notice that many of jungle native people here do not eat insects and worms and such. My wife is one of these and I asked her about this as we were watching Man Vs. Wild once again and Bear was eating some raw beetle. She says this makes her sick. I said may people here eat bugs and you can buy insects at local markets. She says Isaan people eat bug. (snip)

As a counterpoint, my Thai wife and her friends all eat bugs regularly. Mostly fried grubs and grasshoppers with pepper on them. I eat them too; they're delicious! Also, my wife's mother goes foraging almost everyday for wild edibles, often raiding red ant nests for the bodies and eggs. (This too is delicious.) I'm in central Thailand.

Most modern Thai's, though, have lost the old skills. Is your wife one of the hill tribe people or something?

pete lynch
04-03-2010, 06:45 AM
On the radio the other day they said that 90% of us have swallowed at least one spider that crawled into our mouths while sleeping!...LOL
Where's the duct tape!

I like BUGS.........King Crab, Snow Crab, Shrimp, Lobsters.....Mmmm Bugs Good.
Yeah, sea bugs are too big to yuck people out like the little land bugs do.

crashdive123
04-03-2010, 07:11 AM
Hey there OldLaughingLady - when you get a chance, how about stopping by the Introduction section and tell us a bit about yourself. Thanks. http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=14

Ole WV Coot
04-03-2010, 07:18 PM
How does this jive with the general rule that, if you don't know any better, it is safer to eat unidentified things that crawl, than it is to eat unidentified plants?

Now that right there is a strong statement and brings up a point to ponder. I'll have to do some deep thinking or take a nap on that one.:drool:

Rick
04-03-2010, 07:19 PM
Shall we guess which one you'll do, Coot? Coot? Coot? Well would you look at that.