Farmall Cub

Australians cook up wild cat stew By Phil Mercer BBC News, Sydney

Wild cats eat marsupials, lizards and birds Australians have come up with a novel solution to the millions of feral cats roaming the outback - eat them. The felines are the descendants of domestic pets and kill millions of small native animals each year. They eat almost anything that moves, including small marsupials, lizards, birds and spiders. Feral cats are one of the most serious threats to Australia's native fauna.

A recent Alice Springs contest featured wild cat casserole. The meat is said to taste like a cross between rabbit and, perhaps inevitably, chicken.

The woman behind the controversial cat stew recipe has said Australians could do their bit to help the environment by tucking into more feral pests, including pigeons and camels.

But it was a recipe for feline casserole that impressed some of the judges at an outback food competition in Alice Springs. Preparing this unusual stew seems simple enough.

The meat should be diced and fried until it is brown. Then lemon grass is to be added along with salt and pepper and three cups of quandong, which is a sweet desert fruit.

It is recommended that the dish be left to simmer for five hours before being garnished with bush plums and mistletoe berries.

Marinated moggie was not to everyone's taste. One of the competition judges found the meat impossibly tough and had to politely excuse herself and spit it out in a backroom.

Wild cats are considered good eating by some Aborigines, who roast the animals on an open fire.

This outback cuisine does come with a health warning. Scientists have said that those eating wild cats could be exposed to harmful bacteria and toxins.

Let's hope the desert wasn't Road Apple Pie!