Adrastos, Food and Drink, Political Crack

What would Skink think?

Clinton Tyree aka Skink is one of Carl Hiassen’s most vivid and weirdest characters. He’s a one time Florida Governor turned environmental activist/hobo/nomad whose diet largely consists of roadkill.A new law in Montanamade me think of Skink:

Elk, deer, antelope and moose: If Montana residents can scrape it up, they can eat it.

State lawmakers are poised to say just that after the Senate gave its
initial backing Wednesday to a bill that would allow people to salvage
roadkill for food. The measure is now a final vote from heading to Gov.
Steve Bullock.

It makes no sense to let the carcasses of big-game go to waste on Montana’s roadways, supporters said.

“It really is a sin to waste a good meat,” said state Sen. Larry Jent, D-Bozeman.

The measure calls for law-enforcement officers to issue permits to
individuals who would be allowed to remove the carcasses of elk, deer,
antelope and moose off the state’s roadways. An earlier version would
have allowed fur-bearing animals, upland game birds and migratory game
birds to be scraped up, too, but it got canned.

Opponents question whether the meat would be safe and whether it
would create liability issues for food banks that accept it. Sen.
Kendall Van Dyk, D-Billings, said law-enforcement officers are not
qualified to decide whether roadkill is safe to eat.

“Despite it’s good intention, it doesn’t pass the smell test for me,” Van Dyke said.

Cattle ranchers like Sen. Jim Peterson, R-of Buffalo, questioned how
roadkill could be harvested for food when the cattle industry must
follow strict federal regulations.

Montana is not alone in considering the usefulness of roadkill.
Illinois allows people with a furbearing permit to remove roadkill for
pelts and also allows for the salvaging of meat.

Alaska Fish and Wildlife Protection Troopers run a program that
divvies approximately 820 moose carcasses to charitable organizations,
like churches and nonprofit organizations, who cook up moose meat for
needy people.

The Montana measure would defer to the state’s Fish, Wildlife and
Parks agency to regulate how the roadkill is actually salvaged.

But as to whether the measure would create a new weapon for hunters — the car — Jent said he doesn’t see that as plausible.

“We don’t have very many suicidal drivers,” Jent said.

The Senate voted 33-15 in favor of the measure. A final vote could be scheduled as early as Thursday.

Bullock didn’t have an immediate comment on the bill.

I wonder what Carl thinks of this bill. Perhaps he’ll have Skink move to Montana soon and become a dental floss tycoon:

5 thoughts on “What would Skink think?”

  1. many years ago, a friend of mine hit a deer driving thru the cook county forest preserve. it was late at night, dark. he looked both ways and, since no one was around, he wrestled it into his trunk.
    we had two avid hunters in the neighborhood, and they had it strung up and dressed it out in no time.
    later that summer, the whole neighborhood gathered for “the bambi cookout.”

  2. Well, first off, I am rather fond of venison, and a hunter. I personally believe that if a deer jumps into my car, wrecking the car, and killing the deer, it’s fresh meat, and Karma (carma?) served. As I like to say, “burger on the one side– roasts on the other!”
    Seriously– It’s fresh. I’d take it home, butcher and salvage everything I safely could from that deer– all the way to the antlers and hide. I tan and cure the hides of the deer I take. But if certain organs (spleen, gall, bladder, for instance) are torn and leaking, it’s not viable as food– it will be poison, instead.
    Sending it to the Food Bank or restaurants? No… That’s not quite proper.

  3. ‘Harvesting’ roadkill seems to be legal in PA, but it counts against your bag limit.

  5. I don’t think it’s legal in Louisiana, which is surprising. My sister took out two deer at once with her Navigator on Hwy. 61 near the state line. An old fella stopped to check on her. She waited for the wrecker and told the old guy to toss one of the deer into the back of his truck. Her husband swung by and took the second. When the trooper got there, he wanted to know where the deer were. My sister said some guy with Mississippi plates stopped and grabbed the dead critters and headed across the state line. The state cop said it was illegal to harvest road kill. Deer chili don’t care how it gets kilt!

Comments are closed.