Garden visitors

[LaCroix]

Can you eat that?

I guarantee that, if you have working jaws, you could at least one time.

Commander Shark engages his afterburners and sets a collision course for the nearest Minbari War Cruiser. As the massive ship fills his cockpit, he unleashes a fearsome battle cry, "YOU'RE DESPICABLE!!!!!!!!"

*BOOM*

"Balls." said Commader Raw Shark.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Don't forget that in Daffy he's up against the ancient Egyptian god of frustration.

It is one of my dearest hopes that I will live long enough to paint a Screaming Daffy on the side of my starfighter in my twilight years. I might not shoot a lot of Minbari down when they come for us, but the crew of one of their fishy frigates will know sheer terror as I kamikaze my wrinkled ass into them in the true self-destruct fashion of my mascot.

Way your luck runs*, Shark, they'll reel you in, use the triluminary on you, find out you're Valen, and DeLenn takes a liking to ya.


*Or, rather, the way it ran yesterday.

[Broomstick]

Can you eat that?

I guarantee that, if you have working jaws, you could at least one time.

Good point. I walked into that one.
Although it does little to help me classify this thing on a cuddly pet - food item scale. Since it looks like it could fit neatly into both. Sort of like a bunny really only with more legs.

You can eat the giant ones - apparently they're served up in Japan from time to time. Tastes like a crab-shrimp-prawn-lobster sort of thing, which makes sense as they're all relatives of a sort.

The backyard woodlouse/pill bug, however, is not considered edible. Remember I said they smell of ammonia? Apparently they taste very strongly of it. It's a defense mechanism. Few things think ammonia tastes good.

I have not personally sampled either sort of isopod.

[SpottedKitty]

The is the deep sea big cousin of the common garden isopod. No, I have no idea who the guy in the photo is, I just grabbed this example off the web. It does make for a nice size comparison, though.

Can you eat that?

That isn't something to eat — that's something to scream like a little girl and run away from.

If I saw that coming up on the end of my line, I'd probably run from the boat all the way back to dry land...

[U.P. Cinnabar]

I'm with Perps. I'd get the water boiling and some drawn butter.

[Purple]

That or a cage. The thing is positively cute. It's like natures sea bunny. You can eat it (as broom explained) and it looks positively cuddly. The only question is if it bites, is toxic, cant survive outside water or some other bullshit that would make it unsuitable for keeping around with a pink boetie and cuddling it.

[SpottedKitty]

<shudder> Some of us are creeped out by critters with way too many legs. That one pushes all my "aaaiiieee!!!" buttons.

[Broomstick]

That or a cage. The thing is positively cute. It's like natures sea bunny. You can eat it (as broom explained) and it looks positively cuddly. The only question is if it bites, is toxic, cant survive outside water or some other bullshit that would make it unsuitable for keeping around with a pink boetie and cuddling it.

It's a deep sea predator. In addition to requiring water, and preferring the pressure of hundreds of meters of depth, the thing will try to eat anything that doesn't eat it first. Pretty sure, yeah, it bites.

They have been kept in aquariums, though, so maybe you could keep it in a large salt-water tank in your living room. Feed it occasionally (one specimen went nearly five years without eating).

[Purple]

What would I feed it with? Fish? Rabbits? Mice?

[U.P. Cinnabar]

What would I feed it with? Fish? Rabbits? Mice?

I would think live fish.

And, this just proves I'd prefer my deep-sea icky on a plate with drawn butter and a thick, med-rare ribeye steak. Some fries and scallops would not be amiss either.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

WTF?! Double post, nothing to see here.

[Purple]

Where is one even supposed to find living fish? I mean, dead but raw I could get but living? Well, unless you mean like small pet fish stuff thats goldfish sized. That stuff you can buy easily enough but dam, I can't imagine how many goldfish it would take to keep one of those full.

[muse]

Anyone else seen something unusual this year?

I'm waiting for a pair of escaped capybaras to turn up in my area.
Any day now...

[Broomstick]

Where is one even supposed to find living fish? I mean, dead but raw I could get but living? Well, unless you mean like small pet fish stuff thats goldfish sized. That stuff you can buy easily enough but dam, I can't imagine how many goldfish it would take to keep one of those full.

It's a cold-blooded, cold water animal. Did you read where I said one specimen went five years without eating? They probably need a tenth of the food needed by a warm-blooded animal of the same size.

And yeah, you get "feeder goldfish" which are basically carp bred to be fish-food for other fish/water creatures. But given this is a scavenger feeding it bits of dead things (raw - not cooked) like fish and squid might work out better.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

It's a scavenger?! Even better...on my plate. As mentioned upthread. I might even have a veg with it(grilled asparagus or grilled corn on the cob?).

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Anyone else seen something unusual this year?

I'm waiting for a pair of escaped capybaras to turn up in my area.
Any day now...

My god, tribbles are real.

[SpottedKitty]

I'm waiting for a pair of escaped capybaras to turn up in my area.
Any day now...

My god, tribbles are real.

Not at that size — these critters can grow to the size of a medium-large dog. And they're thick-bodied and heavy-set; think of a guinea pig that wants to grow up to be to be an elephant or rhino.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

And, I thought wharf rats got big.

[Purple]

It's a cold-blooded, cold water animal. Did you read where I said one specimen went five years without eating? They probably need a tenth of the food needed by a warm-blooded animal of the same size.

Cold blooded animals tend to go a long time between meals but when they do eat they eat a lot. That's the problem really. A goldfish or two a day is easy. 5000 goldfish at once... Well it's a challenge.

And yeah, you get "feeder goldfish" which are basically carp bred to be fish-food for other fish/water creatures. But given this is a scavenger feeding it bits of dead things (raw - not cooked) like fish and squid might work out better.

If its a scavenger just how picky is it? I mean, I have a cat that's supposed to be a hunter and yet isn't picky about eating everything off the table including but not limited to cooked stuff, vegetables and well everything.

This is all academic of course. No bloody way anyone is going to permit me to keep one of these in my home legally. But its fun to dream.

[Raw Shark]

Is it wrong that you guys are making me really hungry right now? Do I care? Holy shit, you need to stock up on food before you quit drinking.

[Broomstick]

If its a scavenger just how picky is it?

Not very.

You don't feed water-breathers cooked meat because oils in it can fuck up their gills, but other than that, it will probably eat anything, or at least sample it.

[Purple]

Oils? Er... I do a lot of cooking but I don't use that much oil for it.

[Broomstick]

All animals tissues have fats and oils in the cells. Cooking liberates those oils. You don't need very much at all to fuck up gills.

[Zaune]

I think the easiest solution might be to just go to your nearest fishmonger (or fish and chip shop, if you're so fortunate) and ask about their off-cuts. A friend of mine used to feed her cats that way, I dare say a giant isopod wouldn't be any more of a picky eater.

You'd need an awfully big tank though, I'd have thought.

[Purple]

Would a bathtub work?