Wanna Eat Roadkill? Now it's Legal!

By Anthony Todd in Food on May 13, 2011 3:20PM

It's finally happened - we knew things would come to this. The recession has turned us all into hunter-gatherers, scraping our dinners off the side of the road. We're clearly about 5 months from Soylent Green. According to the Trib, a bill passed the Illinois Senate yesterday which will allow people to pick up and keep roadkill and eat it for dinner. You will still need a permit to do this, and the animal would have to be in season as per regular hunting rules, but according to the language of the bill, citizens can now pick up any "fur-bearing mammal" (our favorite legal term of the day) off the side of the road.

Previously, it was illegal under the state code to take roadkill from alongside public roads. Now, you're still not allowed to pick up wild birds (pheasant hunters, keep your shotguns and put the SUV's away) but mammals are fair game. The governor is expected to sign the bill, which is being touted as a revenue generating measure. Of course, in today's political climate, nothing can be done in any legislature that doesn't cut costs and increase revenues - apparently, this will decrease costs, as police won't have to scoop these animals off the pavement.