Comments on: On Cooking Squirrels

By: Al rodente: Could squirrel meat come back into vogue? | Grist

Al rodente: Could squirrel meat come back into vogue? | Grist — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:37:51 +0000

[...] are also delicious, mostly because they eat nuts. “ Rabbits — they’re grass eaters. The flavor is milder. Squirrels taste like [...]

By: James

James — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:23:44 +0000

A great piece. I’ve spent most of my life hunting squirrels. With dogs and without. It’s probably next to rabbit what I enjoy the most. Deer come in a distant 3rd although with the abundance of them these days and the ruination of the small game ethos in order to hunt from September to December down here… You need to hunt deer.

My hats off to a fellow small game enthusiast!

By: Ray Fiveash

Ray Fiveash — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:05:52 +0000

People, people: It is hard for me to think so many of you have never eaten squirrel. I live in Georgia and have been hunting and eating squirrel since I was about 7 or 8 years old, I’ll be 61 in a few days. Just got home and cleaned 9 that my 10-year-old grandson and I killed this morning, in the woods behind my house, next to the creek. We will clean and cut up in a few minutes. Then we will get busy cooking them for supper tonight.

Take the pieces and shake on salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, red pepper (just a little), chili powder, and just a dab of cocoa, set aside and clean and cut up some collard greens, and start to cook with some water and a couple of strips of bacon. When collards are tender and almost done, heat cast-iron skillet and some evoo and brase squirrel on med. heat turning to cook on either side. When you think it is almost done, take from pan and drop into collard greens. gently stir into greens let cook about 30 minutes on med low heat. Take off heat let it sit 10 minutes to cool just a bit. Get a bowl and pig out. Oh, you gotta have corn bread, too.

By: Virginia C

Virginia C — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 05:18:14 +0000

My husband just tried your recipe. I have to say I was hesitant to taste it, but found it quite delicious. We are usually vegetarian. We try to live by the idea that if you are going to eat meat you should kill it yourself as to not be disconnected from the process. One suggestion I do have would be to leave out the olives. I would possibly add leeks or scallions instead. My brother, husband and I all seemed to agree that we didn’t care for the olives. However, the rest of the recipe was spot on. We had no idea how to cook this squirrel and braising it was most definitely the way to go! Thanks for a great post! Just a little background- we are just learning about hunting and our dinner came from a squirrel that had been raiding our vegetable garden. Hopefully we sent a message to his friends!

By: Chris R

Chris R — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:32:10 +0000

Found your post surfing for squirrel recipes. Looks great – I’ll definitely have to try. If you want a real challenge try squirrel hunting with a blowgun. It has the added benefit of not scaring off the other squirrels in the area and its relatively easy to become proficient with a blowgun.

By: Percy

Percy — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 05:21:41 +0000

Just curious, is there a way for people who want to eat squirrel in the western states to harvest the introduced and invasive Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger) and Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)? The Western Gray Squirrel (Sciurus griseus) is a state-listed Threatened species in Washington state, I believe a Species of Concern in Oregon, a federal Species of Concern, and has been extirpated from some areas in California. Their populations have been declining, not because of hunting (which has little or no effect on populations), but primarily because of habitat loss, disease, and competition with its more aggressive eastern cousins. The introduced squirrels, which likely have no protections at all in the western states, are concentrated mainly in residential areas, which means they probably cannot be *hunted* per se. Live-trap-and-eat? Disclosure–I am a biologist and not a hunter, although not anti-hunting (wild game is my favorite food). I am lucky enough to have the delightful Douglas Squirrels (Tamiasciurus douglasii, or “chickaree,” “pine squirrel,” “red squirrel”) regularly visit my porch, one of which will take hazelnuts from my hand (she was born in a dead tree cavity on my property). Unlike the gray and fox squirrels of the genus Sciurus, the Tamiasciurus squirrels are much smaller and territorial year-round, so they occur at relatively low population densities. Being somewhat of a squirrel snob, I must say that our Western Grays are really lovely compared to the eastern squirrels–so fluffy and silver, the epitome of squirreldom.

By: Rufus

Rufus — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:26:15 +0000

Squirrel pot pie.

By: Simon

Simon — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 06:30:52 +0000

My first hunting trip for squirrels was sucessful this year. Only my second ever suqirrel! I brought a potato, onion, some basil salt and pepper and made stew, sheltering from the rain under a huge boulder. I walked out of the forest just after sunset feeling very at peace with the world.

I’ll be going again soon.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 00:14:44 +0000

You know, I’ve noticed that a good number of those hunters that look down at squirrel hunting are the ones that spend thousands of dollars on special dogs, dog training, and fancy engraved shotguns that shoot expensive ammunition, all to hunt birds the size of a 12 year old girls’ fist. I regard them as a sort of throwback aristocracy, with the usual disdain for anything associated with the peasantry . Squirrel hunting could not be better suited for us peasants – delicious table meat that can be harvested with a simple .22 caliber rifle and it’s ubiquitous, dirt cheap ammo. To the aristocracy I leave the fancy engraved shotguns, shooting jackets, tea time and frilly underwear. I’m gonna eat me some SQUIRRELS.