Eat Dove or Pigeon
Squab is eaten as a delicacy in some countries, but it can also be survival food; doves and pigeons are numerous in most climates and can be caught relatively easily. This article gives a few suggestions on how to kill, dress, and cook these birds for human consumption.
Steps
- Doves or pigeons can be killed with a spring-loaded BB pistol, an air rifle, a small crossbow (50 pound pull, using 6-inch plastic bolts), or any larger weapon. They can also be netted, baited and trapped, or snared with a variety of other methods.
- Once caught, they should be killed quickly to avoid their unnecessary suffering. A BB through the brain will work, or a simple cutting off of the head.
- The head, wings, and feet may be cut off prior to plucking, or it can be done at any point in the process.
- Pluck all the feathers from the bird. It may be easier to skin some birds, but you will lose the layer of fat just under the skin.
- Starting from just below the rib cage, cut up through the bird's breast meat, holding the bird in one hand around its back, and pushing the knife away from you to avoid risk of cutting yourself. There is a hard plate that must be cut through, so a sharp knife helps.
- Empty or cut off the crop: the part of the throat that pre-processes its food.
- Cut down to the anus so that the complete intestine can be removed all at once. Pulling the cut breast apart, pull out its entrails starting with the gizzard. If you wish, you can cut open and clean out the gizzard, so you can eat its meat also.
- You can also remove what is left of the trachea if you wish; part of it came off with the head. It looks something like a worm; it's edible but tough and probably hard to digest.
- Cook the bird. The easiest ways are probably pan frying or boiling. Make sure it's "well done" to avoid risk of parasites.
- Eat and enjoy. Though the taste will vary according to their diet, pigeon meat can be comparable to duck. One bird can be a satisfying meal for one person.
Tips
- Desert doves can be found in tree branches and rafters near dawn and dusk on days with little or no wind, particularly on cloudy days. On windy days they tend to cluster in large stands of cholla cactus, scrub oak, and other windbreaks.
- A cast net, as used for fishing, could possibly net a large number of birds while they are feeding in a city environment, though contact with concrete or asphalt will wear out the net prematurely.
Warnings
- Be careful when using an air rifle, crossbow, or any projectile, that the area behind the target is clear to the maximum possible range of the weapon.
Related Articles
Sources and Citations
- This research was made possible, in part, by a land grant from the City of the Sun Foundation, though the specifics of the research were neither coordinated nor endorsed by COSF.
