THIS just in

adorshki

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When I was a kid visiting in Evergreen Colorado late one fall, a couple of the local kids warned me to watch out for falling pine cones.
Seriously, some of those suckers were as big as soccer balls and could do some damage.
Florida's got a different problem:
'Falling iguana' alert issued in Florida due to cold temperatures: 'Don't assume that they're dead'
Story here:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fa...assume-that-theyre-dead/ar-BBZbIyv?ocid=ientp

Apparently they like to sleep in trees, but if they get too cold they lose their grip and fall down....
 
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GAD

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When I was a kid we had a neighbor who refused to go into the woods because "snakes would fall from the trees".

The difference here is that the iguana thing is real. Proof:

Steve__Terri_first_met_in_1991_and_expanded_Australia_Zoo_when_they_took_over_management_in_1992.jpg
 

DThomasC

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Oddly enough, some snakes do live in trees, even in North America. I once found a black rat snake leering at me from a tree outside my house. Scared the heck out of me until I learned that they're actually pretty passive as snakes go.

When I was a kid we had a cat that would catch snakes and play with them. Eventually they would die, but he'd throw them in the air trying to get a little more fun out of them. Sometimes they'd get stuck in a cherry tree in our back yard, but I'm not sure that's relevant to this thread.
 

adorshki

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Oddly enough, some snakes do live in trees, even in North America.
OK, good qualification, even though I was interpreting GAD's post in terms of "Sure some of 'em live in trees but do they actually fall out?"
When I was a kid we had a cat that would catch snakes and play with them. Eventually they would die, but he'd throw them in the air trying to get a little more fun out of them. Sometimes they'd get stuck in a cherry tree in our back yard, but I'm not sure that's relevant to this thread.
Since when have we worried about being relevant?

Well we are after all talking about snakes and iguanas, not relevants.

 

adorshki

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Losing your grip is tough...

Looks like it's going piddle down the back of Steve's neck, Crikey ;)
Oh I thought that was his son,
But apparently I was woefully misinformed, his son's a koala bear:
GETTY_steve-irwin_120219.jpg


Apparently the little blonde kid's just a neighbor from a few billabongs over.
 

dbirchett

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I hear that people are catching the Iguanas and selling the meat. They're calling it "Chicken of the Trees."
 

adorshki

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I hear that people are catching the Iguanas and selling the meat. They're calling it "Chicken of the Trees."
:glee:
Yeah, saw that too.
Apparently it's a genuine invasive species so I don't feel too bad for the iguanas, but gotta suspect health laws may be being violated.
Having said that I'll try anything once if I'm satisfied it's not contaminated either chemically or biologically.

So far the list of things I'll never try again is pretty short and even most of those got at least a second chance just to be sure the first try-out wasn't a victim of mucked-up cooking.
 

FNG

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How is something biologically contaminated?
 

jcwu

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adorshki

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I'd be curious to know what's on that short list.
Nice to see you're still hanging 'round! (Even I you don't post much. :friendly_wink:)

Chicken feet: something about the flavor, 3 times and always tasted like the barnyard soil.
Pig's feet: twice, same as chicken feet
Kimchi: 3 different types in what was supposed to be a good restaurant. Trying to dress it up with hot pepper is just double jeopardy.
Tomato bisque soup: texture. ok with cream of tomato
Uni: twice. For tasting like dirt, this is even worse than pig's feet. I swear, the first time I tasted it I was immediately reminded of a pile of moldy leaves smells I turned over once as a kid.
There're probably a couple of others I've forgotten over the years.

How is something biologically contaminated?
This was the first thing that came to mind:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugu
That's a good one but I was originally thinking anything from germs/virii/bacteria to mycotoxins and parasites.
Technically I guess one could consider Fugu toxin and mycotoxins (fungus toxins) and botulinium toxins chemicals but they have biological sources, so I'll put 'em on that side.
One must be careful when consuming raw foods like sushi and even vegetables.
Remember those spinach outbreaks, more recently, the romaine lettuce e. coli problems?
Beef too, so no ground beef ceviche.
Even salmon (sushi) can harbor parasites.
SO: I'd do a little research before trying iguana. At the very least it wouldn't be raw.
I'd want to know what it'd been feeding on, too.
 
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adorshki

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Apparently, cold isn't the only thing that makes 'em fall out of trees:
"It is hard to believe that iguana is an island delicacy. The lizards, which are huge, are everywhere. They usually just hang out by the docks and soak up the sun. How do you hunt iguana? It is a two-man operation, and it involves a dog that is trained to sniff out the lizard. Iguanas usually hang out in trees; the trained dog will find a scent and will bark-up the tree when it finds one. The hunter then shakes the tree violently until one falls out. The dog then grabs it, gently, and the hunter takes it back home."
A little research indicates iguana hounds are specialized for their role much like coon hounds.

d6b0d4af075b8545ebaae13a3ac47f5a.jpg


4db5a4ba490e8dc49425d41b9714c2b7.jpg
 

jcwu

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Nice to see you're still hanging 'round! (Even I you don't post much. :friendly_wink:)

Guild lifer, this forum will most likely always be a part of my online life. But yes, being busy prevents too much posting. There's a few others I haven't seen in a while, too. Killdeer comes to mind.

Chicken feet: something about the flavor, 3 times and always tasted like the barnyard soil.
Pig's feet: twice, same as chicken feet

I love both of these!! The chicken feet, even just salted and steamed, has been a childhood favorite. To me it just tastes like chicken skin. Same with pig's feet - it just takes like pig skin and fat, a.k.a. bacon, but without the curing.

Beef too, so no ground beef ceviche.

Mad cow!

When I was in Ethiopia, restaurants served raw ground beef as one of the main dishes. The folks there advised against getting it - something about my stomach not being able to handle whatever germs were in it. For them, they grew up eating it and probably have built a resistance to whatever bugs the raw beef carries.
 

adorshki

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Guild lifer, this forum will most likely always be a part of my online life. But yes, being busy prevents too much posting. There's a few others I haven't seen in a while, too. Killdeer comes to mind.
I heard Joe's "active" on Facebook, I think there's probably good reason for it given his varied interests like woodworking and photography.
Gotta admit there've been periods where I myself see a lot of "the same old stuff" and can understand why some drift away, but I think of it as being like newspapers: one day in the '80's I thought to myself, yeesh, I've seen this topic before, and then it hit me that yep, the editor really does rotate topics and themes on a cyclical basis, although generally each year provides opportunities for "new twists".
Pretty much the same thing here.
I love both of these!! The chicken feet, even just salted and steamed, has been a childhood favorite. To me it just tastes like chicken skin. Same with pig's feet - it just takes like pig skin and fat, a.k.a. bacon, but without the curing.
I have to admit that I'm still willing to allow for the possibility neither one of 'em was properly washed before cooking: both of 'em came from the same source each time (Chicken feet from a Fremont restaurant, pigs' feet from a Brazilian lady, served with red beans and rice.)
Anyway I just wonder if they require something like a long pre-soak maybe even with vinegar or maybe brining to leach out something like minerals that may have permeated the flesh from constant contact with the ground?
Mad cow!
When I was in Ethiopia, restaurants served raw ground beef as one of the main dishes. The folks there advised against getting it - something about my stomach not being able to handle whatever germs were in it. For them, they grew up eating it and probably have built a resistance to whatever bugs the raw beef carries.
Undoubtedly. I actually first heard of it when some co-workers brought it to a potluck way back in the '80s'.
I was primarily concerned about the e. coli issue which was already known at the time.
Amazingly to this day I still run into people who are unaware of the danger of cross-contamination when they put their cooked chicken back on the unwashed palte the raw chicken was on.
And BTW did you know wooden cutting boards have natural antiseptic properties and are thus safer than plastic ones?
Some folks think it's the tannins or other natural acidity.
I myself still play it double safe though and use different boards for veggies and meat (which is rare enough these days, so to speak. :smile: )
 
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jcwu

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I myself still play it double safe though and use different boards for veggies and meat (which is rare enough these days, so to speak. :smile: )

I cut veggies first, then beef, then fish (unless it's sashimi, then it goes on its own board), then chicken and/or pork last. But rarely have all three meats at the same meal.

Veggies, if they're going to be cooked, I'm ok with using a meat-contaminated board. But for diced veggies consumed raw, always on a clean board.

And NEVER put cooked meat back on a contaminated board!!! Yikes!
 

adorshki

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But for diced veggies consumed raw, always on a clean board.
Which I do a lot (celery stalks in particular, and onions and tomatoes for sandwiches) so I just reserve the board for 'em.
And almost never need to cut raw meat/fish/poultry anyway, so usually just improvise with a (clean) serving platter and the hard surface seems better suited for things like slicing tuna steaks ultra thin for sushi, anyway.
 
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