The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has released a list of five invasive animals that Americans can hunt, catch and cook.
Eating invasive species can help protect native wildlife by reducing numbers and limiting the damage these species have to do to the ecosystem, FWS spokesman Erin Huggins wrote on her list.
Fox News Digital spoke to a variety of chefs and hunters and took on the flavor profiles of these invasive yet “really tasty” animals.
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Check out these five.
1. Nutrients
Nutria native to South America is an invasive inhabitant of the Gulf Coast, the Atlantic Coast and the Pacific Northwest, according to the FWS.
The semi-activated herbivore, also known as the Scientific name for “Myocastor Coypus,” has meat that is “lean, gentle, and rabbit-like.”
Nutria Meat is “free, mild, and tastes like a rabbit.” (istock)
Eric Cook, a New Orleans chef who owns Gris Grease and St. John's restaurant, told Fox News Digital that Nutria was a “very crazy invasive species” and “did so much damage to the land” that his group experimented with on the menu.
“And that was a huge failure,” he said.
2. Northern Snakehead
Northern Snakehead, or “Channa Argus,” is a sharp-toothed fish native to East Asia.
According to the FWS, these air-breathing fish can live outside the waters for several days and can sway from freshwater habitat to another for one day.
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North Snakehead was first discovered in a Maryland pond in 2002. Two years later, according to the FWS, they were detected in the Potomac River.
They have since been discovered in almost every Chesapeake Bay basin.
“We're a great place to go,” said Ryan Callaghan, director of protection for Bozeman, Montana.
The angler lifts the invasive North Snakehead “is the white meat of meat bordered towards the chicken.” (istock)
Huggins described the snake head as having “sturdy white, flakes, meat.”
“Try it with fish tacos and bake or fry it,” she wrote. “Make sure they don't bite you first.”
3. Green Iguana
Green iguanas are undoubtedly the most visible of all invasive animals on the list.
These cold-blooded invaders from Central and South America have made Sunny South Florida home away from home.
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Large plant-eating lizards thrive in the warm climate of South Florida, recreating both residents and visitors, and can become a regular sight.
Darcy Alahill, a Florida-based angler and content creator of the Darcizul offshore YouTube video, who teaches the art of fishing, said these iguanas “bred like rabbits” and “stay here.”
The cold-blooded green iguana enjoys the tropical temperatures of South Florida. (istock)
“They don't eat any meat, but because they are vegetarians, they threaten native wildlife and native plants and flowers that we find here in Florida,” Arahill told Fox News Digital.
The iguanas will also dig tunnels eroding the embankments, Arahir said.
She posted a YouTube video on how to harvest them and cook them.
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“The iguanas are really good,” she said.
Arahir, who lives along the canal, said he uses his bow and arrow to shoot them in his backyard. She said the tail is the “best part,” but the bigger the lizard, the more flesh it has on its feet.
Arahir likes to boil iguana meat with potatoes and carrots in water, almost like a stew, “to the point where the meat falls from the bones.”
The bigger the iguana, the more meat on its feet, the Florida angler told Fox News Digital. (istock)
She then plates the stew on top of the rice – “And I swear it's very good.”
Arahir said the iguana tasted like pulled pork.
“You don't know the difference,” she said.
4. Intrusion car
Another invading fish is carp.
Bighead, silver, black and glass carp species native to East Asia are collectively known as invasive carp.
If caught by a “registered fisherman”, you will receive cash for the escaped fish.
“Invasive carp are a rapidly growing, prolific feeder that competes native fish and then leaves a mark of environmental destruction,” according to the National Invasive Species Information Center website.
“Four types of invasive carp, now discovered in the United States, have been imported into the country for use in aquaculture ponds. Floods and accidental releases have led to Black, Grass, Bigheads and Silver Carp entering the Mississippi River system.”
The invasive carp is a prolific feeder that has advanced into the Mississippi River system. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The Mississippi River system functions as a “massive freshwater highway,” which has allowed invasive carp species to “access to many rivers and streams in the country,” the site also states.
Callaghan of Meateater, who has experience with Bighead and Silver Carp, told Fox News Digital that the taste is “very mild to almost neutral.”
He said they were zooplankton feeders, “They don't have to work that hard.”
The carp bone structure is “probably the biggest reason it hasn't been removed as a grocery store fish,” Callahan said. “It takes some practice to file them efficiently and avoid bones.”
5. Wild Pig/Boon
Wild pigs and wild boars, known by the scientific name “Sus Scrofa,” Huggins writes, are “a full-fledged ecological disaster.”
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Native to Europe and Asia, these animals are found in Southeastern, Texas, California, and more.
“I've never had a bad pig.”
Wild pigs can be found throughout Florida in a variety of habitats. However, according to Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, they “prefer oak cab hammocks, freshwater wetlands and sloughs, pine flatwoods and more open agricultural areas.”
These pigs “feed by eating a variety of plants and animals and eradicating them with a wide nose. They may disrupt the soil and underground vegetation, leaving areas that appear to be tilled.”
Wild pigs use their wide nose to help them eat plants and animals. In doing so, they tear the meadows. (istock)
Texas hunter Daniel Pruetett, chef and author of the cookbook Meateater's Wild + Whole, told Fox News Digital that Hogs “tears all the meadows” at the family ranch.
“It's one way to harvest these pigs,” Prutet said.
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As food, Hog said he gets a bad wrap.
“I didn't have any bad pigs,” she pointed out.
“There's a lot of stuff to say about pigs that many negative things,” Prutet said, but she believes it mainly relates to “how the meat is processed.”
“I didn't have any bad pigs,” the Texas hunter and chef told Fox News Digital. (istock)
“The pig has some glands and has a scent under the skin. If you accidentally cut it while you're processing it hidden, you can actually tank the meat and taste it really bad,” Prewet said.
She said the pigs were “really tasty,” but the flavor of all the animals is “based on anything they're eating.”
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“If you're eating [hog from] Where there is no good food source, they will taste differently and reflect that,” she said.
