Cooked, salted or dried, field mice strung on sticks are sold as a popular delicacy in Malawi markets and roadside stalls.
On our way back from Lilongwe yesterday, the driver pulled over on the side of the road and got a snack. Was not expecting the snack to be a mouse!
The mice are hunted in corn fields after the harvest when they have grown plump on a diet of grains, fruits, grass and the odd insect. The most widely eaten species is known locally as Kapuku!
Young boys have to be quick as they chase the mice through the fields and catch them. But local villagers have also come up with an innovative trap. One method involves digging holes and putting clay pots filled with water into them. The mouth of the pot is smeared with fried corn husks. As some of the mice fight for the husks, they fall into the pot and drown. Another way the locals catch mice is by igniting the brush to burn the mice out of their holes!
Food for thought...
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