Little Bunny Foo Foo: pet or meat?

[jym626]

<p>This website is from something called the “hoax museum” but, sadly, the story does not seem to be a hoax. Will never look at a drumstick the same way again… <a href=“http://s3.amazonaws.com/hoaxmuseumimages/turkeyhead.jpg”>http://s3.amazonaws.com/hoaxmuseumimages/turkeyhead.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[cobrat]

<p>Interesting…especially considering the following is disputed by a Poultry scientist:</p>

<p>

Tom Savage, a poultry scientist in the Oregon State University Animal Sciences Department, is tired of all the ridicule turkeys have had to endure. A nationally known poultry geneticist, Savage has studied turkeys, chickens and other birds throughout his 30-year career and has conducted numerous studies on ways to improve turkey production and meat quality.</p>

<p>The researcher has spent a lot of time with turkeys - the winged kind - and feels strongly that the use of the turkey as a metaphor for stupidity is unfair and inaccurate.</p>

<p>“I’ve always viewed turkeys as smart animals with personality and character, and keen awareness of their surroundings,” said Savage. “The dumb tag simply doesn’t fit.”</p>

<p>Backing up his claim, Savage referred to the story about how turkeys are so stupid that they sometimes look up at clouds overhead while it’s raining and keep staring skyward until they drown.</p>

<p>Although he has never heard of this actually happening, Savage noted that some turkeys do ■■■■ their heads back, stare up at the sky, and hold that position for up to a minute or more.</p>

<p>But the behavior is a genetically-caused nervous disorder called tetanic torticollar spasms, he said. Savage studied and identified the condition in the early 1990s.</p>

<p>“It’s an example of how a misunderstood animal behavior becomes identified as proof that the animal is extremely lacking in intelligence,” Savage said.

</p>

<p><a href=“http://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/release/2003/11/osu-animal-scientist-debunks-dumb-turkey-myth”>http://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/release/2003/11/osu-animal-scientist-debunks-dumb-turkey-myth&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[jym626]

<p>

There is a broad and growing field of study — animal cognition — that researches all aspects of animal cognition from different disciplines, including behavior, cognitive sciences, ethology and behavioral ecology. In what Scientific American called “a new frontier” in animal intelligence, researchers are finding some evidence that “some animals are capable of ‘mental time travel,’” suggesting that “they have a deeper understanding of the world around them” than humans give them credit for.</p>

<p>Are turkeys on the list of animals that are believed to be have the ability to learn from experience and make plans for the future?</p>

<p>Alas, no. They aren’t that smart.

</p>

<p>They probably don’t have a sense of humor either. But its fine to hand onto a sentimentality for dumb birds. Or friends of friends and cousins of dumb birds. </p>

[jym626]

<p>Oops early morning typo. Hold onto the sentiment for dumb birds. </p>

[GMTplus7]

<p>ha! a video for this thread:
<a href=“Americans Taste Test Extraordinary Asian Food”>http://www.buzzfeed.com/eugeneyang/americans-taste-test-exotic-asian-food&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[GMTplus7]

<p>British shoppers are outraged over the selling of reindeer meat</p>

<p><a href=“Run Run, Rudolph - The Atlantic”>Run Run, Rudolph - The Atlantic;

[sorghum]

<p>Going back to the OP, I draw the line at a government that thinks it has the power to declare that rabbit is poultry.</p>

[dmd77]

<p>We currently have an epidemic of Lyme Disease in this country because people have decided deer are too cute to eat. I sincerely hope people don’t decide rabbits should be protected; we’d all have tularemia. I, for one, am grateful that coyotes take on some of the population control tasks that used to be done by higher predators (cougars, bears).</p>

<p>I would not eat cats, dogs, bears, or cougars, however: I try to avoid eating carnivores, because they have concentrated environmental toxins as they move up the food chain.</p>

[eyemamom]

<p>Hubby made reservations for us for a tasting menu with wine pairings for new years. The bad news for me - one of the courses is rabbit, and another is octopus. Not really a fan of either.</p>

<p>D spent a few weeks in Ecuador and tried a guinea pig. She said it wasn’t all that bad, and this is coming from someone who had them as pets. Considering how they breed, I get why people would raise them for food.</p>

[Parent1337]

<p>My dogs would definitely say bunnies are MEAT! They occasionally get inside our property under the gate(we have a deer fence around the entire perimeter). Once inside, they never escape. The dogs love a good bunny hunt.</p>

[BunsenBurner]

<p>Our dog thought those bunnies were his pets. I guess we taught him so well not to touch our white pet rabbit that he assumed that every critter of that general shape was off limits. It was irritating to see the dog peacefully watching a bunny munching on my garden!</p>

<p>I do not mind coyotes howling at night. The more of those, the fewer garden pests I will get in the spring!</p>

[VaBluebird]

<p>Neither. Ugh.</p>

[sabaray]

<p>I like your dog, Bunsen. </p>

[HImom]

<p>H and his family raised and ate chicks/chickens and rabbits. They were very poor and these were good sources of protein. There were many others who raised and ate these animals. If folks are sentimental about rabbits, why not other animals and why not go vegan? Just saying…</p>

[sabaray]

<p>My dad did too, HImom - the chickens, anyway. He also hunted - when he was a student, it was the only way my family had meat. That ended when my sister and I cried at the sight of mallards he had shot. </p>

<p>It’s interesting that you mention going vegan - I eat little meat to begin with and H and I are trying to eliminate more meat and meat products from our diet. I’ll let you know how January goes! </p>

[stradmom]

<p>My friends who grew up on farms quickly learned not to name the animals that were destined for the dinner table.</p>

[HImom]

<p>My brother has gone mostly vegan and seems quite healthy and happy with it. He does occasionally eat fish but has been largely vegan for quite a few months now. Another friend whose D went vegan has become a nutritionist/dietitian and works at a senior center, while taking a full grad school load! She just passed organic chem and microbiology with flying colors this term!</p>

[greenwitch]

I’ve “accidentally” eaten both reindeer and alligator. For the reindeer, it is quite common to eat in Sweden and was cooked like pot roast and tasted similar. I didn’t know until afterwards. I’m not sure but I think they are very similar to caribou.

The alligator was just nasty. It was prepared “sauce piquant” which is a big, beautiful pot full of fresh green and red colors with this white meat chicken - looking stuff. I put it in a bowl and couldn’t figure out where the rank odor was coming from. It was the alligator. Don’t eat carnivores, especially carrion feeders!