Bobcat meat is good to eat, but can you eat coyote and Bobcat?

13 states allowed mountain lions to be hunted legally in 2019.Bobcat numbers are increasing across their native range.Increased hunting opportunities can be found with increasing numbers.If we are going to hunt big cats, should we also be eating them?

The idea of cats as food has been around for a while.Cats as food is a hot-button issue for many modern hunters, even though many Native American tribes hunted them for that purpose.Cats are not viewed as table fare in America.A food taboo is a cultural thing.

Why don't we eat the big cats we hunt?It isn't that the meat has an unpleasant texture or flavor, it's actually very good.The most common description of mountain lion is that it tastes like pork.And it does.The flavor is mild, almost bland, and the texture is similar to pork loin.The meat from large cats has a mild flavor.Cats love seasoning blends and cooking methods for chicken and pork.Low and slow cooking techniques help keep the meat from drying out since it is lean to begin with.Adding brine before cooking adds to the finished meal.

The vast majority of our normal table fare consists of plant eaters, and some hunters claim they won't eat big cats because they are predators.Many of those same people enjoy eating fish or alligator meat.Black bears are mostly predatory during the time of year.Wild hogs are omnivores, happily consuming just about everything, plant or animal, in their path.Wild turkeys enjoy a diet of insects and small mammals.

There are safety concerns when eating a predatory animal.Not many.Big cats can be carriers of Trichinella spiralis, a roundworm that can cause trichinosis in humans.Cleaning knives and cutting surfaces after processing, freezing the meat for at least 21 days, and cooking it to an internal temperature of 165 degrees is all it takes to prevent food from being contaminated.

According to Miles Fedinec, a hunting consultant for World of Hunting Adventure, attitudes might be changing.Most of our clients used to be interested in hunting mountain lions for a trophy.The bonus of a freezer full of healthy and organic meat was not seen as a legal obligation after the harvest.Today's attitudes have changed.Most hunters want to prepare the meat for the table.A few of our hunters openly admit to hunting primarily for the meat, with the trophy aspect being secondary.

What is the cause of the change in attitude?Fedinec thinks that it goes back to familiarity with the animal and the growing popularity of providing self-harvested, organic food for yourself and your family.Thirty years ago, the average person never came into contact with a mountain lion.Increased populations of both large cats and the expansion of urban populations into traditional cat habitat bring humans and big cats into frequent contact.According to Fedinec, what used to be vast expanses of open ranch land are now taken up with 35-acre ranchettes.With cat populations increasing, they have no choice but to live among humans.The cats had a lot of mystique because they were rarely seen, but this means almost daily interaction with people.

Across the Midwest and the Southeast, there is the same thing.Laura Palmer is a furbearer biologist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.Increased Bobcat numbers lead to increased Bobcat/human interaction and more familiarity among the general public, just like their larger western cousins.

Legal requirements that big cats be fully processed for the table are a factor in the changing attitude.In Colorado, hunters have to remove the hide and carcass from the field.The meat from the mountain lion has to be processed.

It is possible that the biggest impact on changing food attitudes comes from expanded social media and television coverage of unfamiliar food cultures.Millions of viewers have been exposed to exotic foods and ingredients in ways never before experienced by them.The shows influence viewers to try new things.Big cats are things we will try because of this.

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