Eating bugs to survive?

[goldenlight]

In many parts of the world, insects and grubs make up a significant amount of peoples' diets, because they have no other affordable source of protein.

I would have to get pretty hungry before I would eat bugs!

 

[Illum]

Unless you are fed it since a young age...then you'll look about and wonder why foreigners like the Americans make such a fuss over such a delicacy:thinking:

 

[Sub_Umbra]

Avoid eating hairy bugs.

 

[hkfrost]

We've probably all eaten a pound or two and don't even realize it. Insects are routinely ground up in flour and other food stuffs and is a good source of protein. Yum.

 

[Monocrom]

We've probably all eaten a pound or two and don't even realize it. Insects are routinely ground up in flour and other food stuffs and is a good source of protein. Yum.

LOL

We all know that. We just never talk about it.

 

[jzmtl]

That and the spiders and bugs you ate while sleeping, or while cycling.

 

[Burgess]

I've certainly eaten NUMEROUS bugs over the years,

while riding my Bicycle !



But the WORST incident:


Once, a Hornet flew into my mouth, and . . . .

before i could Spit it OUT . . . .

STUNG my Tongue ! ! !

:eeksign:


Quite far back, on the side.


Very rapidly began to SWELL UP !


As i continued to ride (home), i was very much hoping
that it wouldn't swell up enough to Block my Airway.

:eeksign::eeksign:



Luckily, it did not.


But it was 2 FULL DAYS before the swelling had gone down !


Overall -- Not a very pleasant experience.

:shakehead
_

 

[Acid87]

I feel like a gourmet insect taster now as Ive tried chocolate covered tree ants, Scorpion lollies/Vodka (I know technically not a insect) and mealworms. Not sure I would be able to eat them in the wild without some tabasco or salt and pepper.

 

[PayBack]

I think in a survival situation, if I was to force myself to eat a bug. My gag reflex would kick in and I would probably puke everything I did have left in me.

+1

TBH I'm not sure how my reflex would react if I was dying of starvation, but even very hungry it doesn't take much.

I can't even hold a AAA light between my teeth for more than a few seconds

 

[Billy Ram]

Arround here you'd have to try hard to starve to death. There's food everywhere. Just to name a few Oysters, shrimp, mud bugs, alligators, all kinds of fish and Deer. A few grass hoppers or some kind of bug won't go very far. I wouldn't even think about it.
Billy

 

[TwinBlade]

There is a school of thought that says crayfish, shrimp, lobsters etc are in fact insects, the principal difference being that they evolved to be waterproof (IPX8, LOL) and are nicer to eat.

I hope I never come across a scorpion the size of a lobster. :sick2:

IPX8 waterproof! LOL! Glad I had my beer set down.

 

[Mjolnir]

I would probably eat insects like crickets or grashoppers, but no worms. I have eaten coked snails, but I would never eat a live snail or slug, especially if it could be identified as such.

 

[Sigman]

Not on purpose "yet" - depends on whether I'm wearing a faceshield on the bike or not!

Seiriously...no bugs, got weathered in on a hunt and ended up eating "fiddleheads" (newly sprouted ferns) - pretty tasty! Then we found a cache with coconut & walnuts. That's another story though...

 

[csshih]

Seiriously...no bugs, got weathered in on a hunt and ended up eating "fiddleheads" (newly sprouted ferns) - pretty tasty! Then we found a cache with coconut & walnuts. That's another story though...

oo! oo! sigman story time?

 

[Sigman]

oo! oo! sigman story time?

...long story short: In the end we all lived happily ever after - well so far! :nana:

 

[Mr Bigglow]

I've done it in the field, not out of necessity but for training purposes. If you can, it's best to toast the critters over an open flame. This not only adds a pleasant flavour but also kills parasites and burns off any spikey legs, etc- and possibly also hairs- but as per an earlier post, eating hairy insects should generally be avoided since it's often a sign that they are unpalatable or even poisonous. Eating any unfamiliar insect should only be done very cautiously but after a long enough period of starvation rations, I promise that anyone would do it.

Eating mud in Asia was a known practice but only if your leader was named Mao and he was deliberately starving off some of the surplus population or, as at present, Kim Jong and an incompetent maniac.

 

[b_gardner74]

I never had to eat bugs to survive but I dont know if I will be able to do it just in case it was needed. I absolutely always carry lots of munchies in my backpack no matter what.

 

[LUPARA]

This is exactly why I practice going without food for very long periods!! Three days is a cinch...one week a little tougher...more than that and I reckon I might have to break down and shoot something tasty!!!

 

[Mr Bigglow]

This is exactly why I practice going without food for very long periods!! Three days is a cinch...one week a little tougher...more than that and I reckon I might have to break down and shoot something tasty!!!

Along those lines, I might recommend that everyone read the book I'm currently engrossed in, One Second After. It's about a fictional EMP event and how quickly the food would run out everywhere if every modern vehicle stopped at the same time: the answer is "surprisingly quickly".

Speaking of EMP, I wonder how our high tech flashlights would be affected....

 

[HarryN]

Speaking of EMP, I wonder how our high tech flashlights would be affected....

The only ones that would have any chance of survivial are incans and resistored led ones.

Anything with an unshielded driver would almost certainly be toast.