The following is excerpted from Wild Vision Adventures In Observation, A Monthly Newsletter for Texas Wildlife Interpreters, Published by Wild Vision, January/February 1997 Volume 3, Issue 1
Pill Bug Update (Armadillidium spp.) In the November 1996 Wild Vision Newsletter, "Adding Arthropods To Your Diet", it was noted that pill bugs and sow bugs might be good to eat. Happily, this appears to be the case. Here are the results so far:
Pill bugs are extremely easy to collect in quantity with very little expenditure of energy. They can be found in most any dark corner of the woods, but do not waste your time collecting five here and ten there. Instead, search until you find a moist, thoroughly rotten log that has them by the thousands.
The best way to collect pill bugs without gathering dirt and humus in the process is to take advantage of their habit of curling into a tight ball when touched. Place your collecting bag underneath a group of them and touch them gently with a stick. They will curl up and fall into the bag in a most satisfactory way.
With your neatly bagged bundle of protein pills back at camp, you can take advantage of another preference of theirs to clean them further. Our little land shrimp are not fond of direct light. Place the pill bugs on a flat rock with sides added (or a cookie sheet for those of you that brought them home) and cover one end. They will herd themselves like obedient armored cattle over to the covered end, dropping any debris they may have grabbed as they fell into the collecting sack. Remove them from the dark end of the corral, give ‘em a quick rinse and yeeha, pardoner, its snack time.
Backpackers' popcorn: Pour a couple of tablespoons of oil into a pot and heat it up. Next, drop in a double handful of fresh (live) pill bugs in it. Cover quickly and agitate the pot as you would when making popcorn. Within a few seconds, the pill bugs will begin to pop rapidly--just like popcorn. Remove them from the heat shortly after the popping stops and voilá, crunchy crustaceans! Your popugs will be gray-white and curled up like little trilobites. Add some Louisiana hot sauce, cayenne pepper, and garlic salt and there you have it.
This tasty treat is best enjoyed while reading an engaging book and not focusing on what it is you’re eating.
. Royce Milam Copyright © January 1997 Wild Vision. All rights reserved.