Re: [aroid-l] Woodchuck With Red Pepper Sauce

More Groundhogs
As long as the groundhog stories are still going I decided to throw in my two cents.
A few years ago while my son Mark was running a sheep farm in Gap Mills, West Virginia, he naturally had a vegetable garden and occasionally shot the groundhogs which were raiding it. He was rather surprised therefore when one early summer day, a pickup truck with three men and four dogs in the back, appeared and they asked if they could come in and shoot groundhogs. He quickly advised them that he took care of same and had already shot 6 in two months, in addition to the fact that he was only a caretaker and the owners might not appreciate his allowing them to come in and possibly shoot some sheep or cows. They continued to talk and finally persuaded him to allow their hunt and directed them to an approximately four acre alfalfa field. They were gone only a few minutes before he heard shots begin ringing out. This continued for slightly under one hour when the truck reappeared at the door and the men stopped to thank him for allowing their hunting. He looked into the back of the truck and was told that he was looking at 56 dead groundhogs which would be frozen and used as dog food.
In spite of this large number of groundhogs shot this day, it did not stop Mark's problems with them.
Also Mark was not certain that the animals were in fact destined only for dog food. They might have been intended for their stew pots.

Vic SoukupAt 09:25 AM 8/2/2004 -0400, you wrote:
I knew I'd find it.

I have a recipe for Baked Groundhog (woodchuck) from Pioneer Cooking in
'Possum Trot [Tennessee] that is very authentic. Since this list may have
one or two squeamish sorts, I will refrain from reprinting the whole
recipe here, but will be glad to transcribe the appropriate lines to
anyone who e-mails me privately. Here is the last sentence:

Groundhog is an extremely rich dish, a 10 pound one will serve 10 to 12
people with left overs for hash.

In the old days, such sources of protein and animal fat were not to be
overlooked. My ancestors ate such things. Probably yours did too.

Ted.

ted.held@hstna.com

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