Controlling invasive species
We have a copy of Donguibogam, the traditional Korean medical encyclopedia written by Heo Jun, at home. Looking through it, I’m amazed by the sheer variety of animals our ancestors ate.
**Birds**
Chicken, goose, duck, wild goose, sparrow, swallow, bat (Heo Jun classified bats as birds), hawk, kite, crow, magpie, mandarin duck (said to improve marital harmony), raven, pheasant, shrike, domestic pigeon, turtledove, quail, plover, woodpecker, crane, swan, stork, cormorant, tit, myna bird, egret, various other wild birds, wild chicken, cuckoo, owl, moorhen, heron, seagull, and many more.
**Animals**
Horse, deer, bear, cow, roe deer, sheep, tiger, leopard cat, musk deer, sea otter, rhinoceros, antelope, leopard, raccoon dog, cat, rabbit, dog, pig, donkey, mule, fox, otter, badger, wild dog, marten, wolf, camel, monkey, hedgehog, rat, mole, flying squirrel, weasel.
These days, we don’t hunt and we don’t eat most of these animals anymore.
But recently on YouTube, I’ve been seeing people protecting Korea’s ecosystem by catching and eating invasive species.
They catch snapping turtles and grill them over charcoal or put them in ramen.
People who cook nutria say it’s chewy like chicken.
Those who eat bullfrogs say the bones are so big they look like chicken and taste like chicken too.
Largemouth bass are also invasive species. With their strong reproduction and adaptability, they devour everything - fish, aquatic insects, crustaceans, amphibians, waterfowl, mice, snakes. But Koreans share recipes saying this white-fleshed fish tastes great fried or grilled.
While countries like the US, Australia, and Japan also catch invasive species, they rarely eat them. But Korea, true to its mukbang culture, is literally eating them into extinction.
It seems the greatest natural predator of invasive species is Koreans.
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🪄 Dev log originally written in Korean | Translated with Claude
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