Readers Respond: The Dove Dinner that Ruffled So Many Feathers
Folks are still talking about a Texas food blogger who illegally ate a dove that flew into the side of his house. (One commenter calls it ‘windowkill.’)
In homage to the close of dove season, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite comments and reactions to this quirky Texas wildlife story.
After the jump, a collection of tweets, comments, photos and links in a Storify of reader response:
Reader Response: The Dove Dinner that Ruffled So Many Feathers
The media is still talking about Ryan Adams and his blog post about illegally eating a dove that flew into the side of his house. In homage to the close of dove season, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite user comments on this quirky Texas wildlife story.
Storified by Elizabeth Trovall · Thu, Nov 01 2012 13:57:04
It all started with a thump in the night:
When life gives you wild game…UPDATE: Wow. It’s definitely been a very interesting 48 hours. First off, I’d like to thank the multitude of people who have reached out …
A dove flew into Ryan Adams’ house, so he decided to cook and eat it, and then blog about it. Which got the attention of Reddit….
A dove slammed into my house, breaking its neck. So I grilled it. : foodreddit: the front page of the internet
AKAFORTY: “There’s a czech saying “Grilled doves do not just fall into your mouth”. I guess you kind of proved that one wrong a bit.”
Some people expressed concern for the dove.
Dophie23: “Aww poor dove 🙁 that sad. I guess good on you for eating it and not eating factory farmed meat for a day! Good on you! Doves mate for life though. Some dove out there may be missing it SO.
And then somebody asked: can you even do that?
Glasnostic: “Only thing I worry about is the legality. Our state has laws against keeping road kill, not sure about suicidal doves though.”
The commenter was right. Adams did break the law.
“It is illegal to possess wildlife resources, and the white-winged dove are a migratory game bird on the wildlife resource list.” -Steve Lightfoot, spokesperson for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
The story got out that Texas Parks and Wildlife was allegedly “investigating” Adams. Comments got pretty heated even though it wasn’t really true.
E. Nassar: “The TPWD in this case are absolute a** clowns who are accomplishing nothing but harassing a decent tax-paying citizen! Seriously, talk about following the letter of the law as opposed to the spirit of the law. I applaud you for what you did Ryan. Afterall the damn bird basically flew into your pan.” (http://www.nosetotailathome.com/2012/10/18/still-dealing-with-dove-fallout/)
Joel: “I still think you should do the exact same thing even if you have a bald eagle commit suicide on your house.” (http://www.nosetotailathome.com/2012/10/18/still-dealing-with-dove-fallout/)
Some commenters brought national politics into the discussion.
Mary Lambert: “Obama’s police state and endless trashing of our Constitution through “executive” order will end come November.” (http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/10/11/dove-dinner-lands-texas-man-in-hot-water-with-law/#comments)
But Texas Parks and Wildlife never intended on pressing charges.
“We wanted to reassure him that this was one of the rare instances of ignorance of the law and we gave him a warning.” -Steve Lightfoot, spokesperson for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Adams felt bad about the attacks on Texas Parks and Wildlife, so he decided to deliver them a peace offering. No, not a dove – donuts.
How One Food Blogger Caused a Firestorm For Texas Parks and WildlifeThe Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has been receiving hate mail from around the country thanks to the gastronomic adventures of an A…
After we posted our story, we realized David Adams isn’t the only one who has had a ‘when life gives you wild game‘ moment.
Homebuilding: “I’m completely certain that I’m not the only one who’s enjoyed ‘take home’ food, given the tens of thousands of annual wildlife/vehicle collisions. A pheasant was particularly memorable–absolutely delicious (and eaten with abandon as there is no chance of shot remaining). Keep a plasticized ‘recycle/grocery bag’ available in the trunk, in preparation for your eating pleasure. Concerns, here, about law enforcement are wildly overblown (keep the best feathers for your hat, or if it’s a mammal, make a hat)! With minimal searching, you find wildlife/game/roadkill cookbooks. Bon appetit!”
Inner Voice: “You just made me smile about your pheasant story. It would have been my parents. I also remember my sibling hitting a deer once and having the highway state patrol call wildfire and recreation who then asked my brother if he wanted it to take home once he determined it was not diseased and mangled beyond safe for consumption (bone shards can be dangerous). The game warden had an actual list of hunters/non-hunters who could be called at all hours of the night or day to pick up the carcass for consumption. Much better than having it rot on the side of the road.”
One woman said she found her Thanksgiving dinner on a fence.
Pamela: “This tale reminds me of a quail that broke it’s neck on a wire fence right in front of me on a Thanksgiving morning years ago when I had no dinner plans. It was just about the right size for a roast fowl for one. How could I leave it to the bacteria and fungus?” (http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/10/26/how-one-food-blogger-caused-a-firestorm-for-parks-and-wildlife/)
A Quick UpdateThis whole mess is being chalked up as a learning moment, and I’ll ensure that going forward any wild game that comes into my possession …
StateImpact Texas even heard from Ryan’s mom!
Jean Adams: “He is my son and he is awesome! Ryan has a heart of gold!” (http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/10/26/how-one-food-blogger-caused-a-firestorm-for-parks-and-wildlife/)
Other feedback scolded the media ‘firestorm’ that came down on Texas Parks and Wildlife.
Anatomy of a misinformation explosion: the Internet vs. TPWD over the dead-dove-cooking food blogger. http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/10/26/how-one-food-blogger-caused-a-firestorm-for-parks-and-wildlife/Sarah RodriguezPratt
bsrk7: “Once the DNR announced they were cracking down on feral swine before they became a problem in the state, hunting ranches and a select few pig farmers who raise them started crying that the DNR was in cahoots with the pork industry and was ending our right to family farming. Then they lied and said the DNR was conducting armed raids against farmers, and the story blew up all over the Internet. To this day you can find dozens of “news” articles from The Blaze, NaturalNews, Grist, etc. that are repeating this tripe, despite none of it being even remotely true.“
And the rest of you just thought it was pretty funny:
Well the wayward Dove ‘hunter’ and the Texas Dept. of Parks & Wildlife have kissed and made up! LOL http://www.texastribune.org/m/audio/46118/Keith Rodebush
A. Rea: “It dovent make sense that you can’t, with proper precautions, eat your windowkill.”
Commenter: ‘Wonder how these birds got their name? Obvious. This one just dove into the house’ | http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/10/26/how-one-food-blogger-caused-a-firestorm-for-parks-and-wildlife/ #letthepunsbeginStateImpact Texas
Ryan Adams says he is going to go ahead and get his hunting license for the 2013 dove season. He won’t be waiting at home for his next dove dinner.
Last day of dove season. This truly is gods country. #texas http://pic.twitter.com/LgwBFeFTEsteban
