How does everyone feel about eating deer that come from urbanized areas?? I got a deer this year just on the outskirt of Morgantown, along the Monongahela River. They tell us in the newspapers not to eat more than 1 fish per month out of the Mon due to Mercury content. As I'm chowing down on this awesome deer steak, it occurs to me that this deer more than likely drank from the Mon River. Are deer living in the city safe to eat in your opinion?

Drinking from a river doesn't contaminate an animal in nearly the same way that feeding from it's denizens would, and mercury warnings are based on extremely small amounts of contaminant anyway, the meat should be perfectly safe. We have mercury warnings on many bodies of water here due to the number of coal fired generating stations in the state. So far I've only heard of them being applied to fish, especially predatory species such as bass which consume other water dwellers and therefore have higher concentrations of mercury in their tissues. If drinking the water was sufficient then every beef steak and burger you've consumed would carry the same warnings since livestock drink from rivers too. I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it, deer are just as likely to drink from the nearest puddle as they are from a river.

I would be concerned if you start growing another limb or something though.

Beware of flipper babies down the line[]

DO NOT EAT THAT MEAT!!!! I'll PM you my address so that you can send it to me for proper disposal. I have experience handling this type of thing...