Yesterday I Skinned a Porcupine

​Thoughts on Abundance During Climate Change
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There was a time when I was fearful that my dogs would drink from Fish Fry Lake.  Early on, there were times the lake was just a carpet of algae, interrupted by the occasional bright splotch of weird colored cyanobacteria.  There were indicators that it was hazardous…dead birds floating belly up in the green muck

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​stench, clouds of mosquitoes, and something that I didn’t know then was a prime indicator of lack of health, the absence of biodiversity.  At the time I could not have stated that generalist species like mosquitoes and anoxic bacteria do not represent biodiversity.

Yesterday I skinned a porcupine.  

​Right now there’s porcupine sirloin marinating in a bowl of salt water.  Surprisingly easy to skin, by the way, but not something I’d recommend for the casual paleo enthusiast!

Bear with me as I take you through some disparate thinking.  We are currently transitioning our hunting dogs from a kibble based diet to a more ancestral one.  Over the last three years, our “pups” have been slowly weaned from kibbles to the following:   trim meat from Canada Geese, venison, antelope, fresh dried fish from Fish Fry Lake (eleven different species), American Bullfrog, pheasant, cottontail rabbit, jack rabbit, raccoon, a wide variety of duck, bison, organ meat from all of the above, and raw bone with residual fresh meat.  In truth, goose and pheasant and fish make up the bulk of their diet, but the mix, the other varieties of game, contribute to the goal, which is biocomplexity.  Actually, the goal is health.  Biocomplexity is how we get there.

Today there are veterinarians that endorse the above.  The movement towards ancestral diet is really pervasive.  And as one would expect, there may very well be other holistic practices being interwoven into this theme, like chiropractic.  I’m not a believer in chiropractic, but I don’t discount it either.  But just the fact that there is movement towards ancestral diet is energizing!

And what about us?  Are we inflicting this ancestral diet on our “dependents” without willingness to engage?  Well, considering that our dogs are carnivorous while we are omnivorous, I think we are otherwise on a similar page.  Other than the raw bone, we eat all of the above too.  Trim meat in the mix, and preferred cuts too, of course.  And frankly, we eat all of the above in front of our canines.  

There is one point that jumps out at me.  No way humans can back into an ancestral diet under today’s scenario.  Way too many of us live in urban and sub urban settings.  Think about this, as it is the nidus point.  What route will our race take into the future?  I very seriously doubt it will be akin to what we practice here at Shepherd.  Nine billion people disallow it.

Please view us as an experiment.  A set of data points that might inspire other creative options.  And know that if you reach out, we are receptive.  We are always willing to host other like minded individuals.  We’ve had folks from 45 different countries visit us, live with us for a short time.  Brainstorm with us.  Let’s take it to 75!