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It goes without saying that times are tough. Wallets are being clutched tighter than ever, and those of us feeling the recession are cutting corners every which way we can in order to, y'know, live.

Glemie Dean Beasley, a Detroit-based meat salesman who calls himself "The Coon Man," knows how to eat for cheap. Beasley is an avid hunter and eater of raccoon.

"Today people got no skill and things is getting worse," he laments. "What people gonna do? They gonna eat each other up is what they gonna do."
He believes coon meat tastes something like mutton or pork, but to the uneducated pallet, it has the aroma and texture of opossum.
Aren't raccoons known best as diseased, garbage-eating rodents?

Doesn't matter, according to Beasley, considering that in spite of the raccoon meat going uninspected, the chance of contracting rabies from meat is minuscule.

Plus, again, it smells and feels like opossum, so how could a guy say no? If you do decide to cook up some 'coon, there's no one better to consult than its ultimate connoisseur. In the words of Beasley, "the paw is old school [as it] lets the customers know it's not a cat or dog."

Because who would eat a dog or cat when you can chow down on 'coon?! Silly!