The next time you see a squirrel run up a tree or a raccoon crawl into a trash can, your stomach might just start to growl once you hear of a hobby that some region outdoor enthusiasts are wild about.

The Lake County Fish & Game Protective Association is just one local organization that hosts an annual wild-game feast to embrace the experience of eating animals that most people would never picture on a dinner plate.

Cedar Lake resident Mike Berg is one of the association's ace cooks who's known for preparing dishes such as sweet 'n' sour raccoon, oven baked muskrat, barbecued opossum and squirrel stew.

Oven-baked muskrat, sweet 'n' sour raccoon and barbecued opossum.

The average person might think those dishes are strange, bizarre or even gross. The average person might look at a menu that features such items and think of food-related stunts he or she has seen on "Fear Factor." But the average person probably has not been to a wild-game dinner.

Don Jones, president of the Lake County Fish & Game Protective Association, said wild-game dinners have become, well, wildly popular among hunters, fishers and outdoors enthusiasts in Northwest Indiana.

His organization holds its annual Walt Millikan Memorial wild-game dinner every winter. Jones said the dinner usually draws between 250 and 400 people, who pay $40 apiece for exotic hors d'oeuvres, a main course and dessert.

"For us it's a big deal because basically that function -- along with our membership dues -- funds the club for the year as far as our operating expenses and our donations to other conservation organizations," said Jones, a Hammond resident. "A lot of people don't have the funds to go out and hunt all the different species, and they don't get to partake in all those types of wild game on a regular basis, so that's one reason they come to the dinner."

The dinner also gives people the excitement of eating things they've never tried before. Jones said bear, caribou and alligator have been on the menu in the past.

"I would say some of the more exotic dishes go sooner than the others," Jones said. "The biggest part of it is there is such a variety, and that's why people look forward to it."

Mike Berg, a Cedar Lake resident, has prepared some memorable dishes at the wild-game dinner. His sweet 'n' sour raccoon and oven-baked muskrat were big hits at the organization's feast last year. Berg said he has also made barbecued opossum and squirrel stew in the past.

"The one that people talk about the most is the opossum," Berg said. ... "It tastes like really greasy beef. My wife complains that it stinks up the house when I make this stuff, but it tastes good.

"You'll get some people who will look at the opossum and give it a funny look. But when they try it, they usually like it. Opossum just sounds too hillbilly-ish I guess."

Berg joined the Lake County Fish & Game Protective Association in 1986 and discovered his passion for wild game shortly afterward. He began cooking meals for the wild-game dinner about 10 years ago and said he gets most of the animals he prepares from his brother, Tom, who is a trapper.

"I like wild game," Berg said. "It tastes good. I always like eating and trying new things. I also don't like wasting things."

Aside from sampling the delicacies he's created, Berg said he's also eaten ostrich, zebra, lion and turtle.

Is there any exotic meat that he won't try?

Berg admitted he once passed on an opportunity to dig into some goat testicles.

"They called them Rocky Mountain oysters," Berg said with a laugh. "I was too squeamish to try those. I've tried a lot of things, but that was too much."

The Lake County Fish & Game Protective Association isn't the only Region-based organization that hosts a wild-game dinner. The Lake Hills Baptist Church holds a dinner in March that has featured pheasant over noodles, antelope burgers and venison pizza.

Art Krieger, a Cedar Lake resident who went to the church's most recent dinner, said he attends about two wild-game feasts a year.

"I just enjoy going to them," Krieger said. "I enjoy the fellowship. It's a good time to tell stories and a good time to lie about how you got the deer.

"There are certain people who really think hunters are brutal people, and there are some hunters out there who really should be more ethical. But there's a certain fellowship among hunters that you can experience when you have that type dinner."

But not all fans of wild game can wait until occasional dinners come around to get their fix. Many people want to take exotic meats home and experiment with their own recipes. For years, that type of demand has created business for trappers and hunters such as Hobart resident Don Jurs.

Jurs, 67, said he has been an avid raccoon hunter for about the past 40 years. Raccoon hunters use specially trained hound dogs to track the bandit-masked creatures, he said. According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the state's raccoon hunting season will run from Nov. 8 to Jan. 31, 2009, and its raccoon trapping season will run from Nov. 15 to Jan. 31, 2009.

"The pursuit and just watching a good hound work -- that's the whole pleasure of it," Jurs said. "It's not so much the killing part of it. I don't have to shoot that animal to enjoy my sport."

Jurs said depending on the size and quality of the raccoon, the critters can sell for between $5 and $30 apiece. Business usually picks up before the holidays, he said.

"Coon hunting bought a lot of Christmases for my kids when they were growing up," Jurs said.

Although he estimates that he's sold as many as 1,000 raccoons in one year, Jurs said he understands why some people have no desire to eat the animals that are known for breaking into garbage cans. Jurs said he never has been able to get his wife to try raccoon.

But for those who are willing to let their inhibitions go and take a big, juicy bite of raccoon, or any other exotic meat for that matter, Jurs warned that preparation is key.

"I've had one person fix me a coon that tasted like turkey, and I've had some that were hard to stomach," Jurs said. "They're all dark, red meat. Coon is a really greasy animal, and the cook who's preparing it needs to know how to deal with that grease."