Squirrels

[lynda66]

which is why i have never attempted to catch squirrels ....... or mice, cos they are cute too, and i always rescue em from next doors cat, and of course i don't release em either

i would let the cats keep rats though, cos they are evil

[digthatchick]

Grey Squirrel = Rat with good PR Agent (though I couldn't kill one, and we have loads)

[lettucegrow!]

Are you really going to eat them? They are soo cute. But, of course, the next dilemma is do you have red or white wine with them? Casseroled or roasted ?? and then the veg...... I'll see if I can find you a good recipe..

[lynda66]

Grey Squirrel = Rat with good PR Agent (though I couldn't kill one, and we have loads)

but rats are evil vicious things that attack you, i've never been attacked by a squirrel

[nomad]

i watched hugh fearnly cooking squirrel and i have been wanting to try eating it since then but we do not have any close by and you cannot get them in the local shops!!!!!!!!

[di]

but rats are evil vicious things that attack you, i've never been attacked by a squirrel

I have twice& a mate of my sisters got a really nasty bite from one.
I'm so in two minds on this one....part of me loves going to the park & watching them with the kiddies,so I wouldn't want to see them all culled.......but then the other part of me has seen/experienced their nasty side first hand,so I don't feel particularly sentimental over them!
Also DD is still desperate to taste one!!!
I think we'd possibly be quite surprised at how many squirrel culls already happen,I just think it a shame that the meat is not made available as opposed to burning/burying the corpses!!

[BrideXIII]

feel free to eat your squirrel, i am a firm advocator of eating meat, any meat, as long as you are brave enough to kill it yourself at least once, i am a little confused though? only grey squirrels, why not reds, or are they not 'vermin' ?, my point being, a squirrel is a squirrel, nature makes no distinction other than species, it's humans that decide which are naughty and which are nice, like some sort of PC animal santa, if you are prepared to eat one, you should be prepared to eat the other....or, maybe they just BOTH have the right to live?

[di]

Having not been around when red squirrels were a huge part of our countryside,I'd not be in a position to say whether they have the same "vermin" qualities as greys???...maybe they do,but my guess is that as after the greys were brought into this country they managed to pretty much wipeout the red,it seems they're definately a far harder species???Who knows...maybe after the greys have been culled in parts of Scotland & the reds are allowed to multiply rampantly
people may be just as fed up with them???
As for the whole meat eating issue...'fraid I've not got the balls to kill my own...but I guess I'm lucky to be living in an age where there's people out there that can & are either prepared to sell or trade for a few eggs!!!My philosophy is....so long as it's been allowed a decent life & a quick humane exit,then I'm happy to eat it!!!

[BrideXIII]

Having not been around when red squirrels were a huge part of our countryside,I'd not be in a position to say whether they have the same "vermin" qualities as greys???...maybe they do,but my guess is that as after the greys were brought into this country they managed to pretty much wipeout the red,it seems they're definately a far harder species???Who knows...maybe after the greys have been culled in parts of Scotland & the reds are allowed to multiply rampantly
people may be just as fed up with them???
As for the whole meat eating issue...'fraid I've not got the balls to kill my own...but I guess I'm lucky to be living in an age where there's people out there that can & are either prepared to sell or trade for a few eggs!!!My philosophy is....so long as it's been allowed a decent life & a quick humane exit,then I'm happy to eat it!!!

aw don't mind me it's just a bit of a hobby horse of mine this labelling of certain species as vermin, if i was a christian i would say ' we are all gods creatures' i am not but the principle is the same, humans have a bad habit of labelling certain animals as vermin just because they get in the way of what humans regard as their property/rights/profit, i prefer to live and let live in as much harmony as possible, and just accept that we are all part of some food chain, no better no worse for it either,i'll eat anything as long as i have killed it/seen it killed, that lets out cats and dogs there are limits, but i have ridden owned and eaten horse, didn't like it much,but i tried it, and trust me if i was starving i would eat anything ( really starving not midnight munchies ), i just wouldn't excuse it by calling it 'vermin'

pigeon pie is nice too, but i bet budgies taste just as good in a pie.

[di]

We're possibly both misunderstanding each other...at no point have I tried to excuse my eating meat by labelling it as vermin.We are simply a meat eating family that prefer to know our meat has come from an animal allowed to live a happy existence before slaughter,which is why we opt to eat more rabbit than anything else as I know it's been running free & eating naturally.Unfortunately if everyone adopted the live & let live approach we would very soon become a country overridden by the little cuties that you don't like to label as vermin...rats/rabbits & squirrels spring to mind....not only damaging crops but also possibly carrying lots of rather unpleasant disease.
What I struggle to understand is that you say your philosohpy is live & let live,yet appear to have no problem with eating meat from an animal that has actually been farmed for the purpose?
My bug bear is that so many wild animals are killed regularly to keep numbers down & then just discarded.

[nerobot]

If Reds were as much of a pest as Greys, I would have no problems killing and eating it (I wonder how they taste).

I do agree that if they are going to cull a load of Greys, then it would be a big shame to simply discard of the meat. It would be much better if it was made available to butchers, etc. My local butcher gave me a funny look when I asked if he had any

As for not killing them because they are cute, I don't really think this applies if your going to actually eat it. I think chickens are cute, but have no problems killing and eating them.

Would like to try wood pigeon as well, but don't get many in my garden, just lots of feral pigeons, which I don't fancy eating.

Steven

[krazy_krok]

Really enjoyed this read some excellent points and opinions. Greys are not native to this country and being the larger animal to the red they are the reason for the red's decreasing population. Hence the reason it aint illegal to kill them, people are actually employed to 'control' the grey's existance. They may look nice but in theory they are rats with nice tails. Only ever seen one red in my entire life, so comparing that to how many grey's i've seen i'd better get the rifle locked and loaded!

As for eating, There is very little meat so a cassorole dish would be suited best. If you go on to the channel 4 on demand website you can watch hugh catch and cook em, quality program would recomend watching that episode. Eating the red's are a big no no for me, not only are they endangered but i think i've got more meat on my big toe so would be a total waste of time

[nerobot]

Good point about not eating reds. Can't see there being much meat on it (I was very surprised how small they were when I first saw one). The greys in my local park are HUGE, but I think that might be because of all the people feeding them (and I much admit I have done it myself a few times).

I'll have a look at Hugh catching and cooking them. Cheers.

Steven

[lynda66]

red squirrels are endangered and protected you can't kill them

grey squirrels carry the squirrel pox virus, which isn't harmful to them, but kills the red squirrels that catch it.

so that is the reason they are not protected and you can kill them

however, if they developed a squirrel pox vaccine, to give to the reds, then they could both live alongside each other...... but apparently it's too much trouble

[wildone_uk]

hi,
i run british wildlife rescue grays are very distructive and can be very agressive i have the scars to prove it grays are pest and if you want to rid yourself of them you have that right
but please do it humanely ,you will hear a lot of sentimentle reasons and a lot of pepole
who think they know the law my advice to anyone is to ring the police wildlife unit they
will tell you the law on what you can and can not do, and squirrels are nothing like rats
they are very clean and tend to themself very well, and you can eat them .
they will attack and drive out the smaller more timmed native red squirrel i hope this
is of use regards laurie