Some of us like to take steps towards eating healthily but would you ever consider badger or squirrel for tea?

Master forager Fergus Drennan would - and he plans to live for a year on such wild food.

Some might argue the quest is foolhardy but the 36-year-old, who lives in Broad Oak, Canterbury, is confident that he can do it.

Fergus has spent all winter preparing and has had a full medical check-up before embarking on the 12-month challenge.

As well as putting on about a stone and a half in weight, he has prepared masses of wild food, from dried field mushrooms and acorn flour to apple juice from windfalls and rosehip syrup.

Dubbed the Roadkill Chef, Fergus also has a badger, four pheasants, rabbit and squirrel – all picked up from the side of the road – in his deep freeze.

“I’m really anxious and haven’t slept properly for three nights,” admitted Fergus on the eve of

the experiment.

Over the next 12 months Fergus is hoping to drink only natural water. And he won’t be limiting his foraging to food.

He explained: “By the end of the year I intend to have a full set of clothes from boots and trousers to a jacket, made from animal skins.

“I’m researching the whole tanning process at the moment.”

An archaeologist from York University is planning to follow Fergus’s progress as part of her research into the use of starchy food plants in the Stone Age.

Fergus will also be writing a regular blog about his experiences for The Ecologist Online, which readers can follow at www.theecologist.org.

uE06E Find out more about Fergus by visiting his website at

www.wildmanwildfood.co.uk