This morning’s headline in the Indystar refers to beavers on the barby at the Indiana State Fair this weekend. Apparently the wildside cookoff has been an important feature to the fair for the last 20 years. (Meaning since average people stopped actually going out into the wild.) Now the folk convince themselves of their adventurous status by tasting beaver on a stick.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be eating this today,” said Kisha Marks, 34, Indianapolis. “But I’m so glad they gave people like me who aren’t outdoorsy an opportunity to try this and see what Indiana has to offer.”
The mind reels. The jaw drops. (The stomach turns.) Does this woman know she has other senses too, besides the gustatory ones? What about those outdoorsy people who actually SEE beavers in their natural habitat doing what they do better than any animal in the world? What about the faint smell of castor in the places they inhabit? What about running your fingers over the fresh shavings of a beaver chew? What about the tiny mewling sound the kits make to each other that you can sometimes barely hear?
We’re a taste-based nation! Apparently 2000 people wait in line to appreciate what the article calls in its WTF manner “A new benefit to hunting and fishing which people may not know about” !!??!! “That food can be taken from the wild, and it can taste good.”
Well color me stunned. You mean all those pesky beavers we kill every year could be on our tables instead of in our creeks? How about the coyotes we poisoned on the hill, or the opossum in the garage we called the exterminator about? I hear they taste like chicken. There’s no other use for these animals right? It’s not like they keep the ecosystem in balance or anything?
I read once that Gary Indianna is the most politically liberal city in the country. (San Francisco was ninth or something). I can only hope that some of those Gary-ites are enviromentally progressive too, and walked by that booth with their mouths dropped in horror.
