who here has mouse/rat traps in their BOB?

[gjohnsoniv]

Honestly never thought of this, but now some are going to get tossed in.

Edited April 19, 2012 by gjohnsoniv

[TN Outlaw]

hmm good idea

[gjohnsoniv]

Has anyone rigged one to crack a glow stick?

[Wheelgunner]

Yep, traps made the list. When you take into account that they are a reusable source of food, they weigh almost nothing. Also, seems like in a SHTF you'd have a lot to do. If instead of hunting you can set out a few traps and then focus on the next task, so much the better.

[dlm37015]

Mouse traps also make good detonators for improvised claymores and other explosives...

this

[Guest drwright6]

Did anyone else use camo paint on their rat traps? I hope I don't loose them, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

[Guest BungieCord]

A squirrel is just a rat in a fur coat, and meat's meat.

[DaveS]

Lids off of tin cans and pieces of sponge makes good detonators also. A 1lb can of *********, a 9 volt ******* and 00, and you can blow someone to **** and back while in a defensive position!

Old "ranger" days keep coming back for some reason....

[Guest BungieCord]

Just found this in the blogosphere:

Cooking Rats and Mice

Calvin W. Schwabe in his book Unmentionable Cuisine (Charlottesville, Virginia: University of Virginia Press, 1979, available from Amazon Books), says that North Americans should be using many forms of protein which are routinely consumed in other parts of the world. The following exerpts are from a section of the book giving recipes for cooking rats and mice.

"Brown rats and roof rats were eaten openly on a large scale in Paris when the city was under siege during the Franco-Prussian War. Observers likened their taste to both partridges and pork. And, according to the Larousse Gastronomique, rats are still eaten in some parts of France. In fact, this recipe appears in that famous tome.

Grilled Rats Bordeaux Style (Entrecote à la bordelaise)

Alcoholic rats inhabiting wine cellars are skinned and eviscerated, brushed with a thick sauce of olive oil and crushed shallots, and grilled over a fire of broken wine barrels.

What won't the French do next?

In West Africa, however, rats are a major item of diet. the giant rat (Cricetomys), the cane rat (Thryonomys), the common house mouse, and other species of rats and mice are all eaten. According to a United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization report, they now comprise of over 50 percent of the locally produced meat eaten in some parts of Ghana. Between December 1968 and June 1970, 258,206 pounds of cane-rat meat alone were sold in one market in Accra! This is a local recipe that shows the South American influence on West African cuisine.

Stewed Cane Rat

Skin and eviscerate the rat and split it lengthwise. Fry until brown in a mixture of butter and peanut oil. Cover with water, add tomatoes or tomato purée, hot red peppers, and salt. Simmer the rat until tender and serve with rice.

Stuffed Dormice / Ancient Rome

Prepare a stuffing of dormouse meat or pork, pepper, pine nuts, broth, asafoetida, and some garum (substitute anchovy paste.) Stuff the mice and sew them up. Bake them in an oven on a tile.

Roasted Field Mice (Raton de campo asado) / Mexico

Skin and eviscerate field mice. Skewer them and roast over an open fire or coals. These are probably great as hors d'oeuvres with margaritas or "salty dogs."

Farley Mowat also gives this innovative arctic explorer's recipe for souris à la crème.

Mice in Cream (Souris à la crème)

Skin, gut and wash some fat mice without removing their heads. Cover them in a pot with ethyl alcohol and marinate 2 hours. Cut a piece of salt pork or sowbelly into small dice and cook it slowly to extract the fat. Drain the mice, dredge them thoroughly in a mixture of flour, pepper, and salt, and fry slowly in the rendered fat for about 5 minutes. Add a cup of alcohol and 6 to 8 cloves, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Prepare a cream sauce, transfer the sautéed mice to it, and warm them in it for about 10 minutes before serving.

Sounds like a gourmet's survival meal to me.