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joanne

Road Kill Deer - Would you or wouldn't you?

Taking my son to school along the back roads this morning - We noticed a dead roe doe at the side of the road - She wasn't there yesterday - I stopped on my way back and had a look - the stomach is swollen - no doubt from stomach gases but she looks intact otherwise

Would the meat have been spoilt by now or is it worth me going back at lunchtime and picking her up ?
Brownbear

Absolutely not, not under any circumstances.

Apart from anything else, how do you know that it wasn't dispatched by a syringe-wielding vet?
joanne

Thanks BB - I knew you would know
Bebo

I would if I'd actually seen it hit by a vehicle. Otherwise not.
Brownbear

Bebo wrote:
I would if I'd actually seen it hit by a vehicle. Otherwise not.


Well, yes, in that case. But unless it was gralloched, bled and hung within 30 mins at the outside it would taste vile anyway. And remember that impact with a vehicle frequently ruptures the stomach sac and bowels, filling the cavity with grass, stomach acid and liquid poo. Not really much to recommend it as a marinade.
Bebo

Brownbear wrote:
ruptures the stomach sac and bowels, filling the cavity with grass, stomach acid and liquid poo. Not really much to recommend it as a marinade.


Sounds like a Jamie Oliver recipe.
Brownbear

Bebo wrote:
Brownbear wrote:
ruptures the stomach sac and bowels, filling the cavity with grass, stomach acid and liquid poo. Not really much to recommend it as a marinade.


Sounds like a Jamie Oliver recipe.


Either that or one of his wife's range of facial scrubs.
Geoff

Brownbear wrote:
Absolutely not, not under any circumstances.

Apart from anything else, how do you know that it wasn't dispatched by a syringe-wielding vet?


I've eaten four roadkill roe deer. I served one up for Christmas dinner.

They are fine provided (a) they haven't been sitting there for too long and (b) the guts didn't burst during the impact. Even if the guts did burst, you can probably still use some of the meat (front legs, cuts from above backbone...)

As for the bloated stomach, the four I have taken had not been sitting there for too long. One of them was still warm.
Geoff

Brownbear wrote:
Bebo wrote:
I would if I'd actually seen it hit by a vehicle. Otherwise not.


Well, yes, in that case. But unless it was gralloched, bled and hung within 30 mins at the outside it would taste vile anyway.


Have you tried it?
sally_in_wales

I have eaten roadkill deer, but only when I've been satisfied that its extremely recent and in the case of the last one, the impact had essentially removed the stomach completely. Worth being cautious, but very tasty when you get one you are happy with.
Brownbear

Geoff wrote:
Brownbear wrote:
Bebo wrote:
I would if I'd actually seen it hit by a vehicle. Otherwise not.


Well, yes, in that case. But unless it was gralloched, bled and hung within 30 mins at the outside it would taste vile anyway.


Have you tried it?


Unbled, ungralloched deer? Yes, it tasted like filth. If you find it enjoyable then best of luck - you can have my share.
Geoff

Brownbear wrote:
Geoff wrote:
Brownbear wrote:
Bebo wrote:
I would if I'd actually seen it hit by a vehicle. Otherwise not.


Well, yes, in that case. But unless it was gralloched, bled and hung within 30 mins at the outside it would taste vile anyway.


Have you tried it?


Unbled, ungralloched deer? Yes, it tasted like filth. If you find it enjoyable then best of luck - you can have my share.


I let them bleed after I get them home. I cut the head off and leave it on the steps in the garden. And obviously I "gralloch" them. I'm not going to eat the guts....although the liver is tasty.
Bodrighy

Ignorance abounds here so why is there a difference between roadkill birds, which I've had frequently and a deer? Is it because the deer gets damaged internally more due to size?

Pete
Nick

Deer is more likely (than a bird) to have been hit by a car, left, and then killed by a vet.
Jb

Brownbear wrote:
Absolutely not, not under any circumstances.

Apart from anything else, how do you know that it wasn't dispatched by a syringe-wielding vet?


I've always wondered about that. If an animal was dispatched by a vet in such a way that the carase was then toxic then surely the carcase wouldn't just be left lying around?
Brownbear

JB wrote:
Brownbear wrote:
Absolutely not, not under any circumstances.

Apart from anything else, how do you know that it wasn't dispatched by a syringe-wielding vet?


I've always wondered about that. If an animal was dispatched by a vet in such a way that the carase was then toxic then surely the carcase wouldn't just be left lying around?


They have been. There's no legal requirement either to remove such a corpse or to tag it. Only last year a chap fed his dogs on a roadkill deer, and they died.
sgt.colon

If say you hit one while driving and it didn't die but when you got out of your car, you could see there was no hope for it, so you dispatched it and then took it away. Would that be illegal?
Brownbear

sgt.colon wrote:
If say you hit one while driving and it didn't die but when you got out of your car, you could see there was no hope for it, so you dispatched it and then took it away. Would that be illegal?


I don't know. I would, though.
Jb

sgt.colon wrote:
If say you hit one while driving and it didn't die but when you got out of your car, you could see there was no hope for it, so you dispatched it and then took it away. Would that be illegal?


Were you in Longleat at the time?
sgt.colon

JB wrote:
sgt.colon wrote:
If say you hit one while driving and it didn't die but when you got out of your car, you could see there was no hope for it, so you dispatched it and then took it away. Would that be illegal?


Were you in Longleat at the time?


Laughing It's not something that has ever happened to me, I was just wondering. Thought if it's not, the next time we go to Tatton Park....... Very Happy
dornadair

I was always under the impression that the person who hits the deer isn't allowed to retrieve it but anybody who subsequently comes along can.
chez

That's true with pheasants, certainly. Don't know about deer.
misty07

i know if i hit a deer and it was a good edible size then id stop and get it i think it is ileagle if you kill it with the car but if you hit it with a car it did not die then you killed it then i dont think that would be ileagle as yeah you hit it if noone saw you hit it the better where i last worked there was a good 30 of us at this depot and 17 people hit a deer after 4 i loaded my van with rope and a knife i always carry so if i hit it id gut and bleed off the back doors but i never hit a deer so gave up on that idea.
Geoff

sgt.colon wrote:
If say you hit one while driving and it didn't die but when you got out of your car, you could see there was no hope for it, so you dispatched it and then took it away. Would that be illegal?


Yes.
Geoff

Bodrighy wrote:
Ignorance abounds here so why is there a difference between roadkill birds, which I've had frequently and a deer? Is it because the deer gets damaged internally more due to size?

Pete


There's no difference. In both cases some carcasses or bits of carcasses are usable and some aren't. Of the four roadkill deer I have tackled, two had burst guts and two didn't. In all four cases you could indentify the site of impact and discard the meat damaged in this way. In one case the guts were intact and the deer had been killed by a broken front lower leg. Almost the whole of this carcass was usable and very tasty.
matt_hooks

Firstly the legality of it.

Wild game, of any sort, is not the property of any person until it is dead. Once it is killed it belongs to the person who's land it lies on. In the case of roadkill, it belongs to the relevant highway authority.

Now, they are unlikely to have a problem with you picking it up and taking it away, as it means they don't have to pay to remove it.

Is it advisable? Well, as BB says, the main risk is that the animal has been injured, and then dispatched by a vet, using what are some pretty nasty chemicals (they're designed to kill the deer, quickly and efficiently, and they do a damn good job of it!) So unless you've seen the animal hit, and know for sure that it's died because of the impact, then don't even consider it!

Even if you do see it hit, or even hit it yourself, then it needs treating properly, and quickly, to prevent blood damage or contamination from gut contents.

On no account can road kill ever be sold legally. It's not a legal method of taking deer, and so no-one can legally take it for sale to customers! If you choose to eat it yourself, it i at your own risk, and if you're careful you should be fine!
Geoff

I simply don't believe this stuff about leaving tainted carcasses by the side of the road. Quite apart from human foragers, what about the rest of the local wildlife (e.g. scavenging foxes, badgers and birds of prey)? I cannot understand how it could either be legal, ethical or sensible in any way to leave dangerously-tainted meat lying around the countryside. Any vet that did this would be easing the suffering of one deer at the cost of poisoning the rest of the local wildlife. Do you have any real evidence that this happens, or is it just speculation/scaremongering?

I actually drove past a deer carcass on my way home from a mushrooming trip today. This one was too damaged from the collision to be worth bothering with.
Brownbear

Geoff wrote:
I simply don't believe this stuff about leaving tainted carcasses by the side of the road. Quite apart from human foragers, what about the rest of the local wildlife (e.g. scavenging foxes, badgers and birds of prey)? I cannot understand how it could either be legal, ethical or sensible in any way to leave dangerously-tainted meat lying around the countryside. Any vet that did this would be easing the suffering of one deer at the cost of poisoning the rest of the local wildlife. Do you have any real evidence that this happens, or is it just speculation/scaremongering?

I actually drove past a deer carcass on my way home from a mushrooming trip today. This one was too damaged from the collision to be worth bothering with.


Yes, you're right, I'm making it all up for no reason whatsoever. Rolling Eyes
Geoff

Brownbear wrote:
Geoff wrote:
I simply don't believe this stuff about leaving tainted carcasses by the side of the road. Quite apart from human foragers, what about the rest of the local wildlife (e.g. scavenging foxes, badgers and birds of prey)? I cannot understand how it could either be legal, ethical or sensible in any way to leave dangerously-tainted meat lying around the countryside. Any vet that did this would be easing the suffering of one deer at the cost of poisoning the rest of the local wildlife. Do you have any real evidence that this happens, or is it just speculation/scaremongering?

I actually drove past a deer carcass on my way home from a mushrooming trip today. This one was too damaged from the collision to be worth bothering with.


Yes, you're right, I'm making it all up for no reason whatsoever. Rolling Eyes


Upon doing some research, tainted carcasses are not just left by the side of the road, but they could possibly be "awaiting collection". I can't imagine they are left around for very long, but you could always be unlucky and be in just the wrong place at the wrong time...

ETA: in such cases, the vet is supposed to mark the carcass.
matt_hooks

Yes, the carcasses must be collected. But how long do you think it takes your average council to come along and pick up a carcass? In an ideal world it should be a couple of hours, but it's far more likely to be a day or two. As far as I know there's no monitoring of how long it takes to collect roadkill!

And yes, the vets are supposed to mark the carcass. Would you know if a carcass was marked as unfit for human consumption? Often the mark is just a spray of paint, which can easily be missed or washed off.

So yes, you can take the risk if you feel like it, I'll give it a miss thanks. The drugs they use for dispatch are of the kind where contact, and especially ingestion, are likely to be fatal fairly quickly!
mihto

Our regulations are a bit different from yours and here is my opinion/experience on deer roadkill:

Our police would immediately get involved and a municipal hunter would be put in charge. If there is an injury a tracking dog would be part of the hunting party.

If the deer is dead it would be taken away immediately. No lying around.

If a vet was called to put it down the medication would be a concentrated barbiturate. Not dangerous to the touch but very dangerous to eat. The vet would not leave the place until the carcass was taken away. More likely, however, would be a slaughtering process where the meat would be edible if treated right, depending on the injury. The animal will then be used by the municipality, mostly in old people's homes

Under normal slaughter procedure an animal is bled within a minute after being stunned and the stomachs are taken out within 45 minutes thereafter. Eating meat which has not been bled and with the stomachs inside for much longer is not advisable because the risk of spreading harmful bacteria.

I would gladly eat a roadkill if the animal had been put down properly. If it was found dead, even if still warm, I would never touch it.
matt_hooks

That would be the ideal here too Mihto, unfortunately it doesn't always happen, and as the drugs are so dangerous if ingested, I'd not risk it unless I had seen the deer hit, and probably dispatched it myself!

It is completely illegal for roadkill deer to enter the food chain in this country. You'd be ok eating it yourself, but if it came up for sale, or even if you gave it away, you'd be leaving yourself open to prosecution!
dpack

the bacteria problem is zero in stew unless the thing is "soupy" and laden with bacterial toxins

a large dose of barbs could be an issue

humans are very able to eat carrion

herbivore gut contents do not produce fatal results if spread on fresh meat

i would not be able to post this if they did

a sort ,a good wash and a long boil will be fine
mihto

ahhh......here comes a nice one.

A dead hare was found at the side of the road, still warm. Two people in a car saw it, took it home, skinned and cleaned it and put it into the freezer for later consumption.

Two weeks later both became very ill. A test showed an infection with Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia.

This disease is part of biological warfare.

Morale of the story: not everything dead at the side of the road has been killed by a car Shocked
Jenna

Next door neighbour will take 'fresh' Roe - one killed by 'front end impact' on 'our' bit of road between 6 and 7am (body wasn't there when I took my dogs out but had 'appeared' by the time I went out for the bus) was in his freezer by the time I came home from work Smile
Mostly roadkill Roe are 'flat stanley' by the time anyone thinks of removing them from the road hereabouts.
Slim

I've had a stewed roadkill raccoon. Fairly tasty.
Geoff



12Bore

We'll be round for tea later! Very Happy
Geoff

12Bore wrote:
We'll be round for tea later! Very Happy


All gone I'm afraid. This was from last year. Two of them right next to each other. Must have done some serious damage to somebodys car. The bigger one took the brunt of the hit, and about a quarter of the meat had to be discarded. The smaller one was felled by a broken-off foot (you can see in the first picture). The whole of this carcass was usable, including the offal.
wishus

I know someone who saw a deer get run over and left. He decided to stop a few minutes later, turned round and picked the body up - definitely dead.

He took it home to carve up and the flesh in the chest was green! Possibly gangrene?

Anyway, he decided not to eat it.
Brownbear

wishus wrote:
I know someone who saw a deer get run over and left. He decided to stop a few minutes later, turned round and picked the body up - definitely dead.

He took it home to carve up and the flesh in the chest was green! Possibly gangrene?

Anyway, he decided not to eat it.


Liquid grass/acid mixture from the stomach bursting open, dyeing the flesh green.
Geoff



Just found, head took most of the impact and has been removed. Can anyone say for sure what species it is? Roe are usually more brown/orange. Sika?
kirstyfern

I saw a herd this colour whilst hunting last winter, couldn't get camera out as was canteering down the track! I thought they were unusual but then forgot about it until you posted this....
Geoff

kirstyfern wrote:
I saw a herd this colour whilst hunting last winter, couldn't get camera out as was canteering down the track! I thought they were unusual but then forgot about it until you posted this....


http://www.ashdownforest.org/conservation/deer.php

Quote:

Sika were introduced from (probably) Japan. They are more similar to red deer than fallow, despite their appearance, and there are concerns about hybridisation where the two species occur together. On the Forest, sika occur mainly near to Forest Row, where an ornamental herd escaped over twenty years ago. The animals that exist today cannot be the same ones that escaped originally but the herd has not increased to more than twenty animals nor has it spread very far.


This one was about 4 miles southeast of Forest Row. A bit bizarre that twenty years after escaping they have only managed to travel a few miles.
matt_hooks

It's difficult to identify it without a section, possibly a spoor print, information on where it lived etc. etc. etc. Wink

Only kidding.

Pretty sure it's a Sika. The head would have been the giveaway. The lack of the dorsal line is a huge hint that differentiates Sika from Fallow.
kirstyfern

The herd I saw were in North Essex.... There were about 8 of them....
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