Order Your Squirrel

I've never seen a white squirrel! Pretty thing.
Alligatorob said:
I've hunted and eaten squirrel. Really like squirrel gumbo.

However for the most part they are a lot of trouble for a little meat.

My grandfather used to talk about eating them regularly as a boy, that would have been around 1900.

We had white squirrels where I used to live in Florida, a variant of the grey squirrel, not albinos.
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https://photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/detail/white-squirrel-of-sopchoppy/
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Becky1951 said:
I've ate lots of squirrels in my life, I've hunted, skinned and cleaned them, rabbits also. Very tasty fried, baked or in stews and soups. Yes they are cute and fun to watch and would never kill one unless for food, I no longer hunt so they are all safe around me. :ROFLMAO:

However I won't refuse one when offered by others who do hunt.
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Why @Becky1951, you seem so sophisticated... I can't picture you tromping through the woods with a shotgun after your prey. :LOL:

I was given a skinned rabbit once. I used a recipe that called for mustard and it was baked. I can't remember what else, but I didn't care for it. Maybe it was psychological.
 
Magna-Carta said:
I’ve not heard this story. I would have thought though that the campaign is to eat the aggressive grey squirrel that was brought to the UK from North America in the late 1800’s, as opposed to the indigenous UK Red Squirrel, which is protected.

In the UK the North America grey squirrels is considered an invasive species. Efforts are being made to control its population and protect the remaining red squirrels. The aggressive grey squirrel drives out the red squirrel. I think the grey squirrels also have a virus of some kind that they are immune to, but kills the red squirrel?

Just found this: “It is an offence to intentionally or recklessly kill, injure or take (capture) a red squirrel. Damage, destroy or obstruct access to any structure or place which a red squirrel uses for shelter or protection. Disturb a red squirrel while it is occupying a structure or place which it uses for that purpose.”
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This is interesting. I looked up the issue of grey squirrels in Britain:

"The grey squirrel is now classed as an Invasive Alien species in the UK. It’s thought of as a major pest and blamed for the destruction of our native red quarrel population.

But how did this tree-dwelling demon get here in the first place? Where did it come from? How has it done so well? And is everything we hear about it really true?

In this article we are going to take a closer look at how grey squirrels first came to the UK, how they have become so widespread and what the future holds for UK greys and native red squirrels.

How Did Grey Squirrels First Come to The UK?

In the 18th and 19th century we Brits got into travel in a big way and we liked to collect souvenirs.

You only need to look in our museums and stately homes to see the art and antiques we brought in from all over the world. Plant collecting was very popular with exotic species being highly prized. And animals too were collected and brought back home.

Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford introduced grey squirrels into the park at Woburn Abbey in the 1880s. He is credited with introducing the large population into Regents Park in London and Richmond Park in Surrey. He is also thought to have given pairs and groups of squirrels to many of his friends up and down the country for release onto their own estates.

Of course, at the time no one knew how these greys would thrive in the UK and what damage they would cause to our native red squirrels. They must simply have seemed like an interesting addition to the local wildlife."

From 1945 the public were encouraged to shoot grey squirrels. Being provided with free cartridges and paid a shilling (equivalent of £2 in today’s money) for each tail they handed in. Over a million greys were destroyed in this way.

"In the 1970’s the Forestry Commision introduced a grey squirrel cull using the poison Warfarin. It didn’t solve the problem and who knows how many other wild animals were poisoned in the process.
It is still perfectly legal to trap, shoot or poison a grey squirrel.
Yet still the numbers increase. Why?
There seem to be 2 main reasons."

For more, visit https://homeandroost.co.uk/blog/how-did-grey-squirrels-first-get-to-the-uk/
 
Furryanimal said:
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Just add wine, veg and spices. Getty
Environmental campaigners are urging Brits to eat squirrels, says Sophie Morris in the I newspaper, because ballooning populations are damaging local ecosystems. I ordered two “vacuum-packed critters”, priced at £4.95 each, which arrived “beautifully skinned, with deep purple flesh”. They’re a bit of a faff to prepare – “squirrels are small, therefore they have tiny bones” – but the meat “speaks for itself in terms of depth of flavour”. After dicing and cooking them with some wine, veg and spices, the resulting ragù was “meltingly soft”.
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Um... Is there a plant-based alternative?
 
RadishRose said:
Why @Becky1951, you seem so sophisticated... I can't picture you tromping through the woods with a shotgun after your prey. :LOL:

I was given a skinned rabbit once. I used a recipe that called for mustard and it was baked. I can't remember what else, but I didn't care for it. Maybe it was psychological.
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Well when your deer hunting and none are spotted, don't go home empty handed. 🤪

Hunted with my dad when younger. I think hunting falls erroneously on the label of hillbilly or redneck. So I guess that makes me a sophisticated hillbilly/redneck. I feel honored. 😁
 
Becky1951 said:
Well when your deer hunting and none are spotted, don't go home empty handed. 🤪

Hunted with my dad when younger. I think hunting falls erroneously on the label of hillbilly or redneck. So I guess that makes me a sophisticated hillbilly/redneck. I feel honored. 😁
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That makes sense about not going home empty handed.
You're also from Tennessee (beautiful place) I'm gonna call you "Becky Crockett" :D
 
RadishRose said:
Why @Becky1951, you seem so sophisticated... I can't picture you tromping through the woods with a shotgun after your prey. :LOL:

I was given a skinned rabbit once. I used a recipe that called for mustard and it was baked. I can't remember what else, but I didn't care for it. Maybe it was psychological.
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You need a young rabbit for roasting much nicer in a stew.
 
jujube said:
It tasted pretty good but I had to be careful not to bite down on the buckshot.
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A buddy in the Navy was fond of his mother's "squirrel pot pie". He was from western Kentucky. He hunted squirrel with a large caliber pistol using a technique he called "barking". He would find a squirrel siting on a branch and shoot the branch just below or beside the animal and the concussion from the bullet's impact would stun it. He claimed he could easily have the wee beastie skinned and gutted before it regained consciousness.

No risk of biting into shotgun pellets in the meat. And as an added benefit, it didn't damage the pelt.

That was his story and he stuck to it. :)
 
I've heard a lot of hunters and poachers tales, and indeed I have one or two of my own, but I've never heard that one!
 

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