In article >,
George Shirley > wrote:

> Omelet wrote:
> > In article >,
> > "Bob Terwilliger" > wrote:
> >
> >> Ginny wrote:
> >>
> >>> Skin a possum, clean, removing entrails and glands. Scrape and scald in
> >>> boiling water. Salt and pepper inside and out. Make a mixture of bread
> >>> crumbs, chestnuts and applesauce (1/2 cup each?) in equal amounts. Stuff
> >>> this mixture in the possum. Cover with sweet potatoes (3 pounds, peeled
> >>> and diced), 1 cup water and 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Bake in butter and
> >>> baste often. Bake until tender.
> >> I bet this would be even better with an armadillo instead of a possum.
> >>
> >> Bob
> >
> > Or raccoon.
>
> Coon meat is way too sweet for my taste.Plus you have all those !@#$%
> glands to get rid of when you clean them. Armadillo is okay but I
> haven't eaten any since the gubmint said they carry leprosy.

I won't eat raccoon. Too full worms. Same for possums.

As for Armadillo, only some carry Leprosy...

and humans infected them with it.

I did my Pathogenic Microbiology term paper in College on Hansens
Disease (aka Leprosy) and here is how it happened.

Leprosy is an obligate parasite/organism so won't grow on jell media.
Unlike some other Acid Fast bacteria (such as Tuberculosis which Leprosy
is related to; they are both genus Mycobacterium), it must have living
tissue to grow. So, in order to study it, researchers tried growing it
in different animals to see if they could find a cure for it.

Leprosy likes cooler temperatures which is why Lepers generally lose
peripheral stuff first. Ears, fingers, toes, things that stay cooler.

Turns out that it grew well in the footpads of Armadillos, so several
were infected with it at a Leprosarium in Louisiana. The biggest danger
is in getting scratched by them. There have been documented cases of
people contracting Leprosy from handling them.

They put the infected Armadillos into a dirt bottomed pens and the
Armadillos dug out and escaped. They are excellent diggers.

So, it's now found randomly in the wild population. :-(
--
Peace! Om

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.
It's about learning to dance in the rain.
-- Anon.