Food

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Would you eat a squirrel?

It seems that those little fluffy cute squirrels that live in the park are perfectly poised to be the next hot thing on your dinner plate. According to the Guardian:

"Simpson likens the taste to wild boar. Ridley thinks it is more a cross between duck and lamb. 'It's moist and sweet because, basically, its diet has been berries and nuts,' he said. Both believe its new-found popularity is partly due to its green credentials. 'People like the fact it is wild meat, low in fat and local--so no food miles,' says Simpson. Ridley reckons that patriotism also plays a part: 'Eat a grey and save a red. That's the message.'"

Er, I don't know, you guys.

I already have a tenuous grasp on my carnivorous side and already refuse to eat rabbit, duck or goose because I've owned them as pets and can't deal with venison because of the cuteness factor. As much as I hate squirrels (you would not BELIEVE what they do to my perennial beds in the garden), with the tail, they look way too cute and without it, the similarity to a rat is a little too eerie. I think I'd have to pass on Squirrel Casserole, but I have to admit, eating a squirrel is a lot better for the planet than eating a cow, and probably cheaper too. Until squirrels are domesticated, they are putting zero drain on the grain harvest. I imagine that squirrel farms would require the planting of trees, rather than deforestation for grazing land, like livestock. Maybe it's just an idea that I'd have to get used to?

What do you think? Would you eat a squirrel? What if it tasted like bacon dipped in maple syrup? The comments are grabbing some seasoning salt and heading to the park.

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Comments 1-10 of 28
  • rashena32's Avatar
    Posted by rashena32 Tue May 13, 2008 12:38pm PDT

    well i wouldn't because i'm allegrgic to it

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  • Rachel M's Avatar
    Posted by Rachel M Tue May 13, 2008 1:47pm PDT

    I have tried squirrel, once. My husband is an avid hunter of most animals and while his success is limited, mostly turkeys and grouse, squirrel is one animal easily found and taken. While it's true that the cute factor has played a part in my not eating squirrel again, the taste has also left something to be desired. I liken it to very a bland, almost like a boiled chicken. I think it would take alot of 'spicing up' to make it a more desirable meal.

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  • Startrelle's Avatar
    Posted by Startrelle Tue May 13, 2008 3:27pm PDT

    I don't think I could eat those cute furry little critters we see in the city running up and down trees in the park. It would be like eating the family pet.

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  • sandy's Avatar
    Posted by sandy Tue May 13, 2008 6:37pm PDT

    Yes, I would and have eaten squirrel. Of course, being raised in the South had alot to do with it. In fact, when I was a child, my Mom has cooked them for breakfast. Fried, with gravy and mashed potatoes and early peas on the side, it can be quite the delicacy! I have also sampled such fares as rabbit, deer and alligator. Don't knock it until you try it! :)

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  • Veggie Diva's Avatar
    Posted by Veggie Diva Tue May 13, 2008 7:34pm PDT

    No, I would NOT eat a squirrel! Nor would I eat anything else that has a face or a mother!

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  • susan s's Avatar
    Posted by susan s Tue May 13, 2008 8:36pm PDT

    Sure have, but I wouldn't rave about them. I am from Florida so the squirrels down here are really small, and you need a bunch to get a good meal. There is little I refuse to eat, but lots I prefer not to eat, squirrel being one of them. Not because of the taste, more because I hate to draw up squirrel lot of work for little gain.

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  • Ed's Avatar
    Posted by Ed Tue May 13, 2008 8:40pm PDT

    I am a hunter. I love to prove my manhood with a gun, rather than by being responsible, being a good husband, or spreading love and respect. Ahhhh, I love it when I know that the bullet I fire from my gun penetrates a poor defenseless animal, momentarily stunning it, and then it feeling the life draining out of its body. When I go hunting I always go to my lease that I pay $10,000 a year to go to. I use a $2,300 rifle, a $450 leather gun case, a $5,000 deer blind, $350 worth of feed corn planted six feet below my blind, and of course, a $30 bottle of whiskey that always sits on the floor next to me. I love to really 'rough it' like that. When a deer unsuspectingly shows up eating the corn I planted that is only six feet away I stick my rifle out and fire away. Since I modified my rifle it doesn't just shoot semi-automatically, it is full automatic. When I hit a deer, and how can I miss when it's only six feet away, it is almost completely destroyed. It looks like ground meat by the time my 75 round clip on my rifle is empty. Yeeeehawww! I like to climb down from my deer blind and then stand over my prey and have my buddies take a picture of me so I have a permanent record of my manly deed.

    Some people have told me that if I wanted meat that I should use the $25,000 or so I spend to go 'hunting' and buy food with it, but they are people who don't understand that by killing an animal makes me feel so much more like a man. When I know that bullet penetrates that animal it is just like when I penetrate my wife. And when I know that the animal is slowly being sapped of its life it's like I am having an orgasm.

    All of my hunting buddies think the same way I do. They would rather kill an animal than be with their wives or children. They love to kill. The thrill of the kill is exactly like having sex, except afterwards your 'partner' doesn't say anything.

    Copyright 2008, Ronnie Andrews, All Rights Reserved

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  • JERRY w's Avatar
    Posted by JERRY w Wed May 14, 2008 5:35am PDT

    I'm from the country.. Yes i would eat squirrel ..Lov it

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  • Maria's Avatar
    Posted by Maria Wed May 14, 2008 8:38am PDT

    Lorenzo...you should really see a doctor about that dude, thats not normal.

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  • RezChick's Avatar
    Posted by RezChick Wed May 14, 2008 8:59am PDT

    This is so weird- this article really caught my eye because squirrel has been one of native people's staples for hundreds of years, so weird that it may now become fashionable. As a little girl growing up on the Cherokee Indian Resaervation (Cherokee, N.C.) i was a big animal lover so i was horrified when one day an elder (a neighbor)offered me a plate with squirrel on it. the squirrel was whole and skinned, cooked stretched out like it was screaming, so i of course ran away shrieking. My family never had squirrel for a meal, but it was and still is a common traditional food along with other wild game, wild greens and mushrooms(excellent)and other items. I think i will stick with the veggie fare. :)

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Comments 1-10 of 28

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