# Why Can't We eat Roadkill? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2002, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-eat-roadkill/111788 "2002-05-31T20:17:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skydive101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@Skydive101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skydive101)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-eat-roadkill/111788/21 "2002-06-01T03:19:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Podkayne \* > \*\*Squirrel staggering through the woods, disoriented, with open skin lesions > \*\* Band name! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-eat-roadkill/111788/22 "2002-06-01T03:38:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skydive101 \* > \*\* > > Band name! \*\* It’s a whole freakin’ festival, featuring 4 bands: 1. Squirrel 2. Staggering Through 3. The Woods. all preceding the main attraction: 1. Open Skin Lesions. ---
**Author:** ![Etherman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@Etherman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Etherman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-eat-roadkill/111788/23 "2002-06-01T04:09:31Z")
I would guess smaller animals aren’t worth the effort. And I would also guess not knowing how long its been there might put me off, rancid meat not having a lot of “plate appeal” I know a guy who rigged up a big oversized bumper/radiator guard out of steel so he could hit deer and not damage his truck. Then he would pick up the carcass and off he’d go. He’d go out at night looking for them, and knew all the best places to find them. He would even go down into the ditches after them. Got about 10-12 a year, no hunting license/tags needed. He kept trying to get me to try his deer jerky. I politely refused. But I have had (non-roadkill) deer many times, good stuff. mmmmm deer sausage … ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-eat-roadkill/111788/24 "2002-06-01T04:33:15Z")
Here in Iowa you just call the sherriff.They investigate and ask if you want the animal. If you say yes you are free to take it. The DNR will send you a deer tag. No charge except for the vehicle repair. Hey Wikkit where you from? ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-eat-roadkill/111788/25 "2002-06-03T17:15:09Z")
> [@](#): > > **Kalashnikov** : > Not many people eat deer, Wikkit? And you’re from Iowa? > > Even in the darkest depths of New Jersey (where my family used to live) most people I knew had eaten venison at one time or another. > > I think this calls for an IMHO thread. Having eaten it before isn’t the same as regularly eating it. My dad hunts deer every year, and yet I still don’t eat it more than a few times a year. > [@](#): > > **justwannano** : > Hey Wikkit where you from? About a half an hour east of you. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-eat-roadkill/111788/26 "2002-06-03T19:15:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Because we can’t all be Clinton “Skink” Tyree. Heh. Seriously, though, the psycho squirrel may not be the best gastronomic option, since there may be connections between eating squirrel brains and contracting a CJD-like brain disease. [http://exn.ca/Stories/1997/08/29/01.asp](http://exn.ca/Stories/1997/08/29/01.asp) And then there’s the chronic wasting disease (like mad cow)found in deer and elk, that may or may not be transmissible to humans. [http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/war4802.cfm](http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/war4802.cfm) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-eat-roadkill/111788/27 "2002-06-03T21:26:11Z")
Quoth **Qadgop the Mercotan** : > [@](#): > > who says we can’t eat roadkill? Just cook it good, to kill the parasites and possible e.coli and other nasty bacterial strains. I’m surprised to see this coming from you, without at least the warning that it needs to be _fresh_ roadkill. If the bacteria have been working at it for a while, they may have already produced toxins (like botutoxin) which won’t be destroyed by cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Lyllyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@Lyllyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyllyan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-eat-roadkill/111788/28 "2002-06-03T22:10:23Z")
Sorry… Because Burger King is a _drive-thru_, not a _drive-over_. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-eat-roadkill/111788/29 "2002-06-04T00:33:59Z")
In Tennessee, the state legislature recently made eating roadkill legal, although nobody can figure out when it was ever **il** legal. Go figure. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-eat-roadkill/111788/30 "2002-06-05T21:20:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > Nah, it was Christmas Eve and Rudolph wasn’t in contact with the Tower. Oh, OK - that explains it. 😛 My worry was that some moron clipped a deer when pulling some stunt with their plane - like perhaps trying to shoot the deer _from_ the plane. ---
**Author:** ![johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnson)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-eat-roadkill/111788/31 "2002-06-05T22:58:51Z")
From what I understand, you wouldn’t want to eat many deer that are struck by vehicles, because the bones shatter and penetrate the meat, rendering large parts of it inedible. Unless you need the extra calcium. In addition to the parasites and other problems mentioned, you also want to be careful of rabies. On of the fatal cases in the past 15 years or so was a worker whose job was to remove roadkill from the roads. They could find no other likely means of transmission than his having picked up a dead animal that had had rabies… ---
**Author:** ![Motog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Motog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motog)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-eat-roadkill/111788/32 "2002-06-05T23:17:40Z")
Can’t believe nobody has said this yet: Because the tyre rubber tastes like crap [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-eat-roadkill/111788.md?page=1)