# Ever eaten a witchetty grub? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 4, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-a-witchetty-grub/534868 "2010-04-04T00:31:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-a-witchetty-grub/534868/41 "2010-04-13T04:09:56Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Frankly, insects are a pretty inefficient source of human food. For one thing, they are small-you have to eat a lot of them. Plus, they are clad in indigestible chiton. > I have heard that the Chinese like silkworms-but these are only available where there is silk production. Locusts are said to taste OK-but they are only around rarely. > Much easier to raise chickens or fish-higher quality protein, and much easier to raise. Says you. Flying termite night in Cameroon was awesome. On this one night thousands of flying termites come out. You turn on a light next to your house and they all swarm. You can run your hand through the air and catch a dozen of them. It’s an hour of good fun before you have a bucket full. The next day you roast them with some salt. They are greasy and crunchy and proteiny- exactly the delicious things that the traditional diet of millet, millet and more millet does not provide. Flying termite night is just once a year, so obviously you can’t rely on that. But other insects are plenty easy to gather, especially if otherwise unproductive children are doing it. It wasn’t uncommon to see a bunch of five year olds picking through fallen leaves looking for edible insects (and of course playing while they do so.) ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-a-witchetty-grub/534868/42 "2010-04-13T04:19:20Z")
I’d be willing to eat alligator and dog. Nothing about that makes me squeamish at all. I wouldn’t be willing to eat an insect, though. Ugh. The thought of it makes my stomach flip. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-a-witchetty-grub/534868/43 "2010-04-13T05:51:43Z")
There was a site that sold lion steaks for a while. I can’t find it anymore. I’m not even sure if they were real or not. [Found the site. No lion meat but yes on tiger!](http://yhst-46145187252911.stores.yahoo.net/timeandtimer.html) So is that real? Hardly seems worth it to raise cats for food. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-a-witchetty-grub/534868/44 "2010-04-13T06:19:02Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > There was a site that sold lion steaks for a while. I can’t find it anymore. I’m not even sure if they were real or not. > > [Found the site. No lion meat but yes on tiger!](http://yhst-46145187252911.stores.yahoo.net/timeandtimer.html) > > So is that real? Hardly seems worth it to raise cats for food. I doubt they’re being killed for their nutritional value. Tigers are a highly \*Endangered \*([IUCN Red List](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_species)) & CITES Appendix 1 species - \*all \*trade in them (wild-caught) is illegal. Ironically, Lions are a \*Vulnerable \*& Appendix 2 species - regulated trade in them _is_ allowed as long as it doesn’t endanger the species as a whole. Of course, those are probably farmed tigers, but I don’t know if that makes it much better - I do know I’d personally disown any friend who ate an Appendix 1 or 2 animal that he didn’t know the source of personally (e.g. my wife has eaten Elephant, but was at the cull location herself) ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-a-witchetty-grub/534868/45 "2010-04-13T17:34:25Z")
Well, according to that website, they’re raised in the USA but there’s no USDA approval for it yet. eta: By “that website,” I mean the website I linked to. Not the one in your post. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-a-witchetty-grub/534868/46 "2010-04-14T12:18:44Z")
I consider myself a fairly adventurous eater (alligator, snake, mountain oysters, etc.), but I would not be able to knowingly eat dog. I seem to be getting more sentimental in my old age, and I couldn’t eat a species that I can feel an emotional attachment to. Cattle, sheep, and pigs, no problem. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but there it is. Also, is it true that in some parts of Korea they torture dogs before cooking them because they think it tenderizes the meat, or is this PETA progaganda? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-a-witchetty-grub/534868.md?page=2)