It was all due to a group he joined while studying at Cambridge between 1828 and 1831. There, a group of students formed the Gourmet Club, a society that ate the meat of animals not found in traditional cuisine.
Charles was a member of the group until it came to eating roasted owl. After tasting it, he spat it out, referring to it as so disgusting that it was "hard to describe," much to the displeasure of the club members.
