To Debbie Riccio,
 
This is in response to your posting several days ago about the protein
advantages of eating insects.  I would tend to agree, but must also add a
caveat from recent experience.
 
While treating Rikki and Emma to a weekend at the sea, we were plagued by
hundreds of huge beetles buzzing around like B52s.  Imagine a 1.5-inch
monster, twice the size of the normal"June bugs" we used to see every summer
in Michigan.  They did not have pincers big enough to bite, and so I thought
I would take revenge on one that did a kamikaze dive into my hair by making
it a toy & snack for our ferrets.  Big mistake.  They loved playing with it,
of course.  Real amusing--until Rikki started eating it.  I removed the
remains, but a few minutes later, Rikki started vomiting and retching.  I
was scared, but in 20 or so minutes he seemed back to normal, thank the
gods.
 
I think that ferrets have lost much of their instincts about what is
palatable and what is not.  Although we live in Turkey, I expect that toxic
insect species could pose a problem anywhere.  Butterflies like the Monarch
can be dangerous, for example.  Whether cockroaches carry more pathogens, by
virtue of their eating habits, than ferrets might encounter in their
wanderings I cannot guess--but I don't think I would encourage them as a
protein supplement.  (Or at least not uncooked?!)  All the best from
Istanbul...
[Posted in FML issue 1273]