Did anybody else catch this on TV (Spike) last night? The rats in Louisiana are HUGE.

http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20120730/ARTICLES/120739954

Seems pretty obvious that ideas for *good* tv are dwindling to a sad end.

If you placed all of the potential "reality shows" end-to-end they would never reach a conclusion.
(and that is more frightening than Giant Swamp "Rats" and the men who hunt them. on camera.)

(for example)

Plate Craters (busboys, dishwashers and high kitchen drama/hijinx)
Scales of Justice (the life and times of fish market employees)
Fat Bastards (romance and intrigue at a weight-control clinic)
You Nailed It (the struggles of an Anglo framing crew in the New World Order without borders)
High Times (behind the scenes at a medical marijuana dispensary)
Eat My Dust(conflict and camaraderie among the management and staff of a Maid Service)

(and the list goes on . . .)

Wow. There's ten minutes of my life that I will never get back . . .
(at least it wasn't the thirty or sixty i would have lost watching Rat Bastards =)

Sad to say I did like the reality shows about a Dodge dealership in Las Vegas. Mainly because that's sort of the field of work I'm in so it was easier to relate to than giant rats and such.

There weren't any giant rats in the used car department?

Metaphorically, maybe...

I'm not sure that I would smother one of these . . . protein sources.
I'd probably just shoot it or whack it on the head. But anyways . . .

Smothered Nutria Cajun Style

About This Recipe
"The nutria (also called ragondin) is a fur bearing herbivore native to South America that was first introduced into the wilds of Louisiana in the late 1930s, when animals were intentionally and/or accidentally released from fur farms. Nutria meat is a very lean red meat quite similar to rabbit meat and tastes like dark turkey meat. If you do not hunt, frozen nutria meat is available year round, and can be shipped nationwide. Serve over hot cooked rice, pasta or cream potatoes. From nutria.com."

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 lbs nutria, cut in serving pieces
2 tablespoons cajun seasoning, plus
2 teaspoons cajun seasoning
2 cups onions, peeled and minced
1 cup green bell peppers, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 3/4 cups chicken stock or 3 3/4 cups broth

Directions
1 Heat oil in stockpot until very hot.
2 Sprinkle seasoning on meat; stir well.
3 Add meat to pot, brown on all sides until golden.
4 Cook and stir 10 minutes.
5 Add onion, bell pepper and flour, cook and stir 10 minutes.
6 Add salt and chicken stock to pot cook and stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of pot to remove all the goodness.
7

No Kidding: This is where the on-line recipe ends!
I guess that once all of the goodness is removed there is no point in proceeding with the cooking.
(plus they left out the celery so it isn't authentic anyways)

Rat On A Stick (a reality show about a food vendor that travels from State Fair to State Fair)