# Just bought pair o' belly-to-belly spreadeagled dried bat lizards on a stick. What are they? \[pix\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958 "2015-09-05T00:04:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/21 "2015-09-05T14:25:07Z")
ETA: She still hasn’t seen it. But when I crawled into bed I woke her up to tell her that I bought something weird in Chinatown and it was in the kitchen, just so whe would know. Didn’t have the heart to go the full Monty. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/22 "2015-09-05T14:35:28Z")
Pleasant amusement: “What is that? It looks like a bat; it’s gross; what did you buy it for; get it out of here; no, I don’t want to read the Straight Dope thread; it looks like a bat; we have one, remember I showed you where it ran away; insurance commercial.” - Sigh \* ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/23 "2015-09-05T18:46:46Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Might as well bite them before they can [bite you](http://www.animalspot.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Tokay-Gecko-Bite.jpg). They’re hardly dangerous, but for sheer pugnacity ounce-for-ounce nothing tops a [Tokay](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4DkbqoQn63Y/TgROxRwy9mI/AAAAAAAAD7g/y5oDRwrTAUk/s1600/Gekko+gecko-eating+bird.jpg). I’ve been chomped on by plenty of lizards without twitching an eyebrow, but I admit Tokay Geckos intimidate me just a tad - they always seem to be spoiling for a fight ;). Reminds me of a pretty hilarious incident in Herpetology class. In the morning lecture, on venomous reptiles, the professor had told us, “Anyone who let’s themselves get bitten by a reptile is a fool.” That afternoon, in Herp Lab, he was handling a Tokay Gecko when it latched on to his hand between thumb and forefinger (just like the bite in the photo) and commenced to grind away. (Most reptiles will bite and then let go. Not Tokays. Like bulldogs, they latch on and then chew on you.) He of course was highly embarrassed, and couldn’t pull the thing off and risk hurting it in front of the class. We tried various strategies to make it let go including putting ice on it. I think it took about five or ten minutes before it finally let go, all the time while he was bleeding profusely. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/24 "2015-09-05T19:27:02Z")
With dogs you’re supposed to shove a stick up their ass. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/25 "2015-09-05T19:50:15Z")
I guess the real question here is how they are supposed to be eaten? Even putting aside the fact that this is a lizard, that looks like the least edible food product I’ve ever seen. I might start gnawing on taxidermy and baseball gloves before I try to eat one of those. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/26 "2015-09-05T22:54:19Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > But credit goes to **Colibri** for the ID/photo. I don’t think there’s an unknown critter posted here yet he hasn’t identified. He’s the Shazam of the animal kingdom. That’s why Cecil made me SD Curator of Critters.😉 > [@](#): > > Tokay is the name (region?) of the famous sweet wine of Hungary–the perfect elixir. The gecko’s name comes from its [characteristic call.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V66nsqL88SE) It has nothing to do with the wine or the region. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/27 "2015-09-05T23:08:53Z")
I kind of lost track. Are they kosher? Just in case I date and or marry a practicing member of the Hebrew faith. Okay, maybe I as a practicing Catholic am not kosher, in which case the question is moot. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/28 "2015-09-05T23:12:32Z")
Do you have split hooves and chew your cud? Scales? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/29 "2015-09-05T23:14:24Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I guess the real question here is how they are supposed to be eaten? > > Even putting aside the fact that this is a lizard, that looks like the least edible food product I’ve ever seen. I might start gnawing on taxidermy and baseball gloves before I try to eat one of those. They’re usually ground and made into a drinkable\* decoction - add water, boil, add more water, boil again - or stuffed into capsules or pressed into pills. They’re rarely used alone; you’ll usually find them in a formula with other herbs. (In Traditional Chinese Medicine, “herbs” sometimes includes animal parts, not just plants.) Its most common use in TCM isn’t for virility, but for coughs and asthma. It’s also classically used, in blends, for excessive urination, low back pain, fatigue, weakness, debility, and loss of appetite. It’s sometimes used for reducing blood pressure and relieving intestinal spasm. Modern pharmacologic investigation includes water or alcohol extracts taken orally or injected intravenously or intraperitoneally for dilating coronary blood vessels and reducing their need for oxygen (which could be useful during heart attacks or angina) and dilating the blood vessels in the brain during an ischemic event (stroke). As far as I know, they’re at the level of animal studies for this use, not human trials. It’s something of an platelet aggregation inhibitor and does mildly reduce blood sugar, so care should be taken by those on anticoagulant therapy or with diabetes. \*For a certain definition of “drinkable”. As in, you’re \*supposed \*to drink it, but it tastes dreadful. Chinese decoctions are why I studied primarily Western herbalism. Decoctions are so gross and inconvenient. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/30 "2015-09-05T23:18:37Z")
Tyrannosaurs are probably not kosher: [http://dml.cmnh.org/2000Dec/msg00400.html](http://dml.cmnh.org/2000Dec/msg00400.html) > ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/31 "2015-09-05T23:19:27Z")
> [@Marion\_Wormer](#): > > I as a practicing Catholic am not kosher [Well, you might actually be kosher, but Jews are still forbidden from eating you.](http://www.jewishpress.com/judaism/parsha/is-a-human-kosher/2013/04/04/0/) Which means [Jews are likely not murdering Christian children and selling their meat to McDonald’s](http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=88515) and any Jews who are are doing so in violation of religious laws. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/32 "2015-09-05T23:37:50Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > [Well, you might actually be kosher, but Jews are still forbidden from eating you.](http://www.jewishpress.com/judaism/parsha/is-a-human-kosher/2013/04/04/0/) > > Which means [Jews are likely not murdering Christian children and selling their meat to McDonald’s](http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=88515) and any Jews who are are doing so in violation of religious laws. Maybe I should have said, “However, if as a shiksa, I’m not acceptable as a wife or girlfriend, the question is moot.” ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/33 "2015-09-05T23:47:30Z")
Oh I just can’t not … If you are not at least his girlfriend why is he doing that? And is [permissible](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunnilingus_in_Halacha) under Halacha. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/34 "2015-09-06T03:07:17Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > … > > Which means [Jews are likely not murdering Christian children and selling their meat to McDonald’s](http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=88515) and any Jews who are are doing so in violation of religious laws. Which is run by the Zionists, no doubt. I refuse to click on that, btw, even thoughI suspect it is a report _on_ that well-founded suspicion, not an actual source document. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/35 "2015-09-06T03:12:56Z")
> [@Marion\_Wormer](#): > > Maybe I should have said, “However, if as a shiksa, I’m not acceptable as a wife or girlfriend, the question is moot.” Seriously, though (:)–that sounds stupid) a lot of people, secular Jews among them, say someone “is kosher” by shorthand, but it honestly does ring a little odd. They “keep kosher” is more common; but sometimes the adjective (food lifestyle) gets cumbersome, so you’re right: “my wife grew up in a kosher household, now there’s head cheese and dried geckos in the kitchen.” Note that the generic “it’s kosher,” ie, it’s on the up and up, is different and normal for everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/36 "2015-09-06T05:58:21Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I guess the real question here is how they are supposed to be eaten? > > Even putting aside the fact that this is a lizard, that looks like the least edible food product I’ve ever seen. I might start gnawing on taxidermy and baseball gloves before I try to eat one of those. There is also the saurus, or lizard. Alexis mentions this fish, in his Leuce. It is a cook who is speaking:— A. Do you know how you ought to dress a lizard? B. I shall, when you have taught me. A. First of all Take off the gills, then wash him, then cut off The spines all round, and split him open neatly; Then when you’ve laid him flat, anoint him well And thoroughly with assafœetida; Sprinkle him then with cheese, and salt, and marjoram. 120. σαῦρος. τούτου μνημονεύει Ἄλεξις ἐν Λεύκῃ: μάγειρος δ᾽ ἐστὶν ὁ λέγων ἐπίστασαι τὸν σαῦρον ὡς δεῖ σκευάσαι; β. ἀλλ᾽ ἂν διδάσκῃς. α. ἐξελὼν τὰ βράγχια, πλύνας, περικόψας τὰς ἀκάνθας τὰς κύκλῳ παράσχισον χρηστῶς διαπτύξας θ᾽ ὅλον τῷ σιλφίῳ μάστιξον εὖ τε καὶ καλῶς τυρῷ τε σάξον ἁλσὶ τ᾽ ἠδ᾽ ὀριγάνῳ. Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists, Book VII, 120. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958/37 "2015-09-21T00:25:56Z")
Just bought a cheap Chinese Herb app. Details on categorization, decoctions, etc. given.(Chinese Medical Encyclopedia, Agnes Ng) Says it’s “considered endangered, toxic, or illegal in the U.S…” Which would it be, I wonder? I added two screen shots to the bottom of the imgur album: [http://i.imgur.com/4pW3FZf.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/4pW3FZf.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-bought-pair-o-belly-to-belly-spreadeagled-dried-bat-lizards-on-a-stick-what-are-they-pix/729958.md?page=1)