Re the porcupines.... during the depression (the first one) they were hunted almost to extinction and were called 'the poor man's feast' because of the fact that they are slow moving, and having no reason to fear man, did not run. So, even someone who could not afford a gun or ammo, or had maybe pawned theirs, could club a porky to death with a big stick. They are actually much easier to skin and clean than you would think and are for the most part herbivores, so their meat is very white, sweet and clean. Cooking them is similiar to cooking regular pork, a crockpot works well. A little education to the pubic about how to kill, clean and cook them would do the DNR a great deal of good towards not having to introduce another species that could turn out to backfire, and save them the money of doing so. Not to mention that it might give some family a little more meat to get thru the winter.
BTW, we have been having problems with cougars in our area. The story is (I don't know if it's true, might be just a rumor, maybe not) that the deer herd has gotten so badly out of control and is becoming such a nuisance that the cougars were reintroduced to help control them. Now, we have a very popular deer season here in MI, and all it would take would be to issue more doe permits, or extend the season a little longer, and the herd would be controlled considerably. Again, a simple plan that would benefit the citizens of the state, and not endanger anyone with wild animals.
BTW, we have been having problems with cougars in our area. The story is (I don't know if it's true, might be just a rumor, maybe not) that the deer herd has gotten so badly out of control and is becoming such a nuisance that the cougars were reintroduced to help control them. Now, we have a very popular deer season here in MI, and all it would take would be to issue more doe permits, or extend the season a little longer, and the herd would be controlled considerably. Again, a simple plan that would benefit the citizens of the state, and not endanger anyone with wild animals.
Last edited: