Where have all the squirrels gone?

Flarbalard said:
No shortage here, far as I can tell. Besides where I live to relocate wild animals more than a certain small distance requires some special licensing, unless "you know a guy".
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In Nevada it’s illegal to relocate squirrels because they are very territorial and the other squirrels will kill the new arrivals.
 

PeppermintPatty said:
So manly. 🤭
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In the Indian tradition...if you kill it, you eat it...otherwise, leave it alone. I keep my land free of poachers...sometimes using my military/repo man stealth skills to surprise hunters and discourage them from killing animals on my land. They never seem to return after my shotgun goes off over their heads. It's been a few years since I've needed to do it. Obviously, the word has gotten around to go elsewhere.
 
His Dudeness said:
In the Indian tradition...if you kill it, you eat it...otherwise, leave it alone. I keep my land free of poachers...sometimes using my military/repo man stealth skills to surprise hunters and discourage them from killing animals on my land. They never seem to return after my shotgun goes off over their heads. It's been a few years since I've needed to do it. Obviously, the word has gotten around to go elsewhere.
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We have a large property also and there is a big camp tent at the very back of our property. There’s a stream back there and I assume good deer hunting. I don’t go back there often but I have thought about trashing it. It’s on green property which is government property that anyone can use. Luckily deer hunting is only once a year. I heard shots from that area years ago but we fell a bunch of trees years ago on the trail to there and haven’t heard a peep since. I’m not against hunting. I just don’t want anyone hunting on our land. I guess you feel the same way.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
We have a large property also and there is a big camp tent at the very back of our property. There’s a stream back there and I assume good deer hunting. I don’t go back there often but I have thought about trashing it. It’s on green property which is government property that anyone can use. Luckily deer hunting is only once a year. I heard shots from that area years ago but we fell a bunch of trees years ago on the trail to there and haven’t heard a peep since. I’m not against hunting. I just don’t want anyone hunting on our land. I guess you feel the same way.
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Exactly. I have deer relaxing in my back yard, bunnies eating in the front and baby coons enjoying sunflower seeds on the porch. The photo was from my kitchen window. BTW: I sent this photo to our wildlife state organization about the bumps on her ears and neck. They decided it wasn't an issue to be important.

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His Dudeness said:
Exactly. I have deer relaxing in my back yard, bunnies eating in the front and baby coons enjoying sunflower seeds on the porch. The photo was from my kitchen window. BTW: I sent this photo to our wildlife state organization about the bumps on her ears and neck. They decided it wasn't an issue to be important.

View attachment 348802
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Exactly. Here are deer seen from our sunroom.

note: thats an awful case of bug infestation.
The poor thing. 😢
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Flarbalard said:
With the ever increasing high cost of groceries??? * Recipe is from Practicalselfreliance.com *

​

Traditional Brunswick Stew​

Traditional Brunswick Stew Recipe

Traditional Brunswick stew is made with small game, namely squirrel or opossum.
PREP TIME30 minutes
COOK TIME40 minutes
TOTAL TIME1 hour 10 minutes


Ingredients​

​

  • 2-3 squirrels
  • 2 cups stock
  • 4 tbsp bacon fat
  • 2-3 onions, sliced very thin
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp rosemary
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 cup Madeira
  • 3/4 cup tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
  • 1 cup lima beans , or other broad bean
  • 1 cup corn
  • 1 cup cut okra, optional - I couldn't get any
  • bread crumbs
  • chopped parsley

Instructions​

  1. Place whole squirrels in a dutch oven with 2 cups stock. Braise the squirrel meat, covered for about 30 minutes until tender.
  2. Remove the squirrels and stock to a separate container to cool. Debone the squirrels when they're cool enough to handle, and add the meat into the stock. Reserve it all for adding back into the dutch oven later.
  3. Add 4 tablespoons of bacon drippings to the empty dutch oven, and fry the onions until browned.
  4. Add in chopped garlic and fry for another minute.
  5. Pour the stock and squirrel meat into the hot dutch oven to deglaze the pan.
  6. Add in all the remaining ingredients including spices and vegetables. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.
  7. At this point, serve immediately or add a few handfuls of fresh breadcrumbs to help thicken the soup a bit, along with fresh parsley if desired. If adding breadcrumbs, simmer for another 10 minutes before serving.
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Thanks for the recipe! I always joked that just as soon as I got a recipe for squirrel that they would all disappear. That's probably not gonna happen. Actually, these ground squirrels are so full of parasites and disease they wouldn't be worth preparing to eat unless the world was way deep into a zombie apocalypse.
 
Nathan said:
Thanks for the recipe! I always joked that just as soon as I got a recipe for squirrel that they would all disappear. That's probably not gonna happen. Actually, these ground squirrels are so full of parasites and disease they wouldn't be worth preparing to eat unless the world was way deep into a zombie apocalypse.
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Donner, party of four. Your table is ready.
 
StillLearning said:
I live in the suburbs which has always had an over abundance of squirrels. About 2 weeks ago they are pretty much gone. I see one or two when I take my walk but that’s it. This spring there are a lot of dead trees in neighborhood too. Could it be the drought for the last few years? We’ve had a lot of rain this spring? Has this happened to anyone else neighborhood?
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Squirrels mate in early spring and early summer, and then go off somewhere to have their babies and stay hidden with them until they're weaned. They're usually gone for a couple months. Maybe that's what's happening.
 
We can't feed anything after April 1st, since there are too many black bears around.
One even showed up at an outdoor cafe in West Hartford last summer!

Last year some coyotes made the rounds, too.
 
We have lots of squirrels. An eastern box turtle laid eggs in our yard two days ago. Lots of birds. Coyotes. Lizards. Tons of bugs. Haven't seen anything else, and am currently wholeheartedly avoiding snakes, palmetto bugs, and ticks.
 
WheatenLover said:
Coons are vectors for rabies. What if you ate a rabid one by mistake? Or a wild animal with lots of yucky parasites? And what about venison?
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Rabid animals act strange and can be easily detected.. If you cook it well, it kills the parasites . Pork is one of the most contaminated meats possible. Every Chicken and Turkey carries Salmonella which will cause sickness if undercooked. All meat carries a risk. Just because you don't buy it in a grocery store doesn't make it any more unsafe.
 
Murrmurr said:
Squirrels mate in early spring and early summer, and then go off somewhere to have their babies and stay hidden with them until they're weaned. They're usually gone for a couple months. Maybe that's what's happening.
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Actually that makes sense. Never noticed it before. Txs 👍 I’ll be watching for their return with extras. 😂
 
all these short reports of your diets and animal supply chains and seasons are quite quite delightful - it would be good if you could sustain them like a series ? despite I live in 8 acres of woodland - all we have are a few snakes hardly seen but can be dangerous ; wallabies [small kangaroos] very skitish so come out late evening to drink from the dogs bowls I thinkand very tiny birds and families of pigeons who come drinking from the bowls too? and a few hoomuns??
 
As a kid, my older brother (he was 14/15 or so) would hunt for rabbits and squirrels in the fall hunting seasons, and whatever he shot was dinner that night. So I've had a lot of those as a kid. Since then, not so much.

Brother would clean the rabbit/squirrel and put it in the fridge before he went to school. Our mother would later boil, then fry them up. Tasty but you had to be on the lookout for stray buckshot.
 
Buckeye said:
As a kid, my older brother (he was 14/15 or so) would hunt for rabbits and squirrels in the fall hunting seasons, and whatever he shot was dinner that night. So I've had a lot of those as a kid. Since then, not so much.

Brother would clean the rabbit/squirrel and put it in the fridge before he went to school. Our mother would later boil, then fry them up. Tasty but you had to be on the lookout for stray buckshot.
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I’ve had rabbit stew once that I had to spit out a few buckshot pellets. Slow eating but good.
 
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