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Is squirrel the perfect austerity dish?
BBC ^ | November 27, 2010 | Katie Connolly

Posted on 11/27/2010 7:04:06 AM PST by decimon

Grey squirrels are ubiquitous in North America - scurrying across our lawns and up our trees, burying nuts and taunting our tantalised dogs.

Bright-eyed and bushy tailed, squirrels are cute, furry and, apparently, very edible.

The notion of stewed squirrel may not tempt everybody's taste buds, but in an age of tightening belts and financial severity, the humble abundance of the squirrel is causing some to reconsider its epicurean virtue.

American hunter William Hovey Smith, a self-described outdoor enthusiast, loves a spot of squirrel stew, made of course from critters he hunts himself.

"It is certainly a very American dish. We've eaten it since colonial days. In fact sometimes, during hard times, a lot of people primarily subsisted from squirrel meat, just for want of anything better," Mr Smith says.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Food; Pets/Animals; Society
KEYWORDS: austerity; dish; perfect; squirrel; squirrels
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To: decimon

41 posted on 11/27/2010 8:20:56 AM PST by RoadKingSE (How do you know that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a muzzle flash ?)
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To: RoadKingSE
[ from the basement door with .22 CB caps. ]

Better a GAMO pellet gun.. makes less noise..

42 posted on 11/27/2010 8:21:09 AM PST by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole....)
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To: decimon
Grey squirrels are ubiquitous in North America - scurrying across our lawns...

but the article is from the UK. I suspect it was written by MO, encouraging the little people to eat cake with their squirrel and home garden grown arugula when the prices skyrocket at the supermarket...


43 posted on 11/27/2010 8:22:32 AM PST by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: decimon

YUM! — Tree Rat Stew.


44 posted on 11/27/2010 8:38:06 AM PST by Mike Darancette (Democrat Party is shovel ready)
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To: decimon

How much “food insecurity” do we have to see before someone gets the idea to take out all those stupid, pooping geese down by the pond at the park in town.


45 posted on 11/27/2010 8:38:57 AM PST by sportutegrl
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To: decimon

You folks make me hungry. I’m going to have lunch.


46 posted on 11/27/2010 8:41:42 AM PST by Rappini ("Pro deo et Patria.)
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To: SumProVita

I have eaten smoked beaver tail and, except for a small center
bone, it was indistinguishable from Canadian bacon.


47 posted on 11/27/2010 8:44:19 AM PST by reformedliberal
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To: sportutegrl
How much “food insecurity” do we have to see before someone gets the idea to take out all those stupid, pooping geese down by the pond at the park in town.

Every pond in every town. Between squirrel, deer and goose, there's animal protein all around us.

48 posted on 11/27/2010 8:45:18 AM PST by decimon
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To: Hiskid

Recipes for the hunter’s wife.


49 posted on 11/27/2010 8:47:09 AM PST by reformedliberal
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To: Bryanw92
Quite a few of the great marksmen of earlier generations were created by their father giving them a .22 rifle, a bullet, and telling them “if you want to eat meat tonight, hit the squirrel with your only shot”.

Even better incentive for good markmanship.

The Boers of South Africa used to do the same when hunting lion. But they didn't use .22s. Or there wouldn't have been very many Boers.

50 posted on 11/27/2010 8:53:01 AM PST by Sherman Logan
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To: Walmartian
I think I've got about 35 head of squirrel out there right now.

I have had one heckuva time branding mine. I can't get 'em to stay still for the half second it takes to make a good mark on 'em. And the females don't give much milk either. Any suggestions?

51 posted on 11/27/2010 8:59:06 AM PST by 17th Miss Regt
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To: susannah59

I had an uncle who cooked just about anything that moved. Many a meal at his house was ‘chicken’, until I realized the legs were awfully small for chicken.. During the meal he finally admitted it was squirrel. Seemed like he needed a LOT of squirrels to make a decent meal- not very meaty. Tasted good tho. He also cooked rabbit, alligator,dove and nutria- which is very good. If it were sold commercially, I’d buy and recommend it to anyone. I actually like the gamey taste of things.


52 posted on 11/27/2010 9:07:26 AM PST by ClearBlueSky (Whenever someone says it's not about Islam-it's about Islam. Jesus loves you, Allah wants you dead!)
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To: 17th Miss Regt

The squirrels in these parts are trying to figure out how to get inside the house. If I left the door open, they would just walk in.


53 posted on 11/27/2010 9:36:37 AM PST by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
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To: decimon

My grandfather, an Appalachian boy, liked to eat squirrel brains with scrambled eggs. It came out a few years back that eating squirrel brains caused that same deadly nerve disease that was ravaging the cattle in the UK. They had been feeding the cattle feed made from infected sheep; then they later discovered that some of the cases in the United States were caused by eating squirrel brains. Yuk! to that anyway. As for eating squirrel meat in general, they’re a pain to clean or so my husband now says. He used to hunt and eat them years ago. No more.


54 posted on 11/27/2010 10:19:33 AM PST by Twinkie
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To: kdot

Not really...rats are scabs. Squirrel’s diets consist of nuts, fruit, berries...maybe the occasional insect. There is a vast difference between the two.


55 posted on 11/27/2010 2:13:35 PM PST by Outlaw Woman (Lock & Load-Coming to a Neighborhood near you)
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To: Outlaw Woman

there’s also a vast difference between country rats and city rats...


56 posted on 11/27/2010 3:50:28 PM PST by stefanbatory (Insert witty tagline here)
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To: stefanbatory

I live in the country and the only rats here are democrats :)

In all seriousness, rural areas are just not plagued with them. Mice...different story...rats are fairly rare.


57 posted on 11/27/2010 4:05:19 PM PST by Outlaw Woman (Lock & Load-Coming to a Neighborhood near you)
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To: decimon

My husband loved squirrel. When at camp during deer season, all the guys also hunted squirrel...they said its tasty, I never consumed any....sautee in frying pan...


58 posted on 11/27/2010 4:44:54 PM PST by goat granny
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To: Brilliant

City life is convenient but it sucks...


59 posted on 11/27/2010 4:48:26 PM PST by goat granny
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To: sportutegrl

Had free roaming farm geese and their poop was bigger than my dogs...They never wanders from the farm and spent most of their time in the pond. But my turkeys got out once and my neighbor called to tell me they were heading for the woods behind his house...they spotted me coming after them with a switch and turned around and headed back home, gobbling at each other all the way back...

When let out of their fenced in area, I had to keep my eye on them...


60 posted on 11/27/2010 4:55:02 PM PST by goat granny
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