# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Cooking, Food Storage, & Preserving >  squirrel meat?

## Ccole420

Anybody ever eat some squirrel before? Never have and woundering how it is...

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## dragonjimm

not bad. better then cat....;P

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## tacmedic

I have eaten quite a bit of squirrel meat in the past, it's pretty good.  I normally brine it or soak it in milk first and then batter and fry it like fried chicken or stew it.

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## dragonjimm

squirrel dumplings with gravy. plan on at least two or three though

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## RBB

Grey squirrel - cooked up in shepherd's pie - my favorite meal as a child.

Red (pine) squirrel - edible - if you have an affinity for turpentine.

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## Rick

Thank goodness we don't have that problem here. Red and gray are just colors here. 

Fried squirrel and fried rabbit are foods of the gods. Just plain good eating. Tacmedic is right, a brine soak helps.

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## Sourdough

Not as good as Bald Eagle.

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## Ole WV Coot

One thing for sure it don't taste like chicken. It's pretty good, ate them for many years.

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## Flavor Bear

Only had it once as a lad, and just a small portion.
But I remember it being very tasty. Cooked until crispy.

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## Teotwawki

Ate them a lot as a kid.  Used to hunt them with my Dad using a shotgun.  Gotta be careful of your teeth in case a bit o' lead is left in the meat.

Don't exactly remember the taste but I remember liking it... but then it was something I grew up eating.

Like someone above said: I think the meat was soaked in milk for a while, battered and fried.  Little squirrel gravy with the leavin's.

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## vanguard1

I've had plenty of squirrel soup, pretty good. Never tried it fried up though.

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## Ccole420

yah, becuz ive had plent of chances to kill them but i nevr actully thought about doing it. im probully gunna give it a try on my next aventure. thanks for the opinions

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## Flavor Bear

*looks at squirrels playing in trees outside*

...


*fetches wire, broomstick and peanuts*

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## Rick

You might want to check on the local gaming laws in Michigan: 

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7...341---,00.html

They tend to get expensive if you shoot them out of season and get caught.

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## Tahyo

Grew up squirrel hunting and eating it.  My mother use to make really good fried squirrel.

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## Alpine_Sapper

> Ate them a lot as a kid.  Used to hunt them with my Dad using a shotgun.  Gotta be careful of your teeth in case a bit o' lead is left in the meat.
> 
> Don't exactly remember the taste but I remember liking it... but then it was something I grew up eating.
> 
> Like someone above said: I think the meat was soaked in milk for a while, battered and fried.  Little squirrel gravy with the leavin's.


Um, that's why you use a .22...

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## Survival31

Does that mean, red squirrel is not edible but grey is?

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## Tahyo

Personally I've never had red squirrel.  Greys are the only ones we hunted or I ever saw.  I can't imagine them being much different meat wise.

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## Survival31

Yes, but someone mentioned terpentine in relation with a red squirrel

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## dragonjimm

use to hunt squirrel with a .22 pellet rifle with some luck. and a few years back had one that had intentions of shacking up in the attic blasted that one with a paint ball gun a few times and he decided to move along :Big Grin:

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## KingFisher907

Ive eaten it fried and in stew with no complaints...a trapper friend out of Coldfoot, Alaska swears by his squirrel enchiladas, which were OK but not as good as his snowshoe hare enchiladas, deeee-licious!

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## Ccole420

> You might want to check on the local gaming laws in Michigan: 
> 
> http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7...341---,00.html
> 
> They tend to get expensive if you shoot them out of season and get caught.


yeah, i live pretty deep- in the woods so the chances of getting caught is very slim. but thanks for the advice

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## Chicago Dan

I only had it a couple times in my youth. Unlike the others mine was roasted.
I do remember not likeing the taste much(may have been more a personal reaction due to my age though) and there was not much meat.
I would give it a try again as long as it was harvested far away from the toxic swamp :EEK!:  I live in.

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## Rick

Ccole - If you look at that link a couple of types are legal year 'round and the others are not. To answer your question, red and gray are no different. Here at least. I've had both and I can't tell any difference (other than color) between them. They all eat the same things so I don't know why there would be a difference but perhaps there are in some places. 

Red's will interbreed with grays and vice versa. So much so around here that it's now hard to tell the difference. Most are now red with a gray tummy.

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## owl_girl

who has succesfuly trapped a squirrel? that is one of my current objectives and i am having trouble i need to hear about some ones past experiance with succesful traps for squirrels, thanks

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## dragonjimm

box type live traps work well and you might try the traps used for mink...they have a wire that pops up from under them kills quickly but doesnt break the skin
i have used some snares with a enough sucess rate to include snare wire in my kit. 
Around here  some of the guys use a 55 gallon drum with a tilting top for raccoons. the bai is in the center of the top once the animal goes for it the top tilts droppng the critter in the drum. works for cats and possums too depending on youre bait.. :Big Grin:

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## Rick

I have live traps set all summer long for ground squirrels and I've never caught a tree squirrel in one. Granted, a lot of the times there is not bait in them. Ground squirrels are pretty dumb and will trap themselves with or without bait. Tree squirrels never seem to go inside them for some reason. At least I've never caught one in a live trap.

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## dragonjimm

depends on the bait. corn or sunflower seeds work pretty well most of the squirrels in our neighborhood like to raid the bird feeders so birdseed might work.

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## Ken

You guys are killing me.   :Frown:   If you ever cook up one of the squirrels that hang around my place, the meat will probably taste like peanuts.   :EEK!:   That's because I feed them peanuts (Clarence, Jasper, Flloyd, Rufus - the whole gang) every morning at about 6:00 when they come and wait around the kitchen window.

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## dragonjimm

miss owl ...bring youre traps to kens house and use peanuts... :Big Grin:

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## Ken

@*&%$#*()&%$@#$%& :Mad:

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## Rick

Actually, I think that's pretty smart. I'll bet Ken increases the distance each day and one day the peanuts will be laying in the frying pan. That Ken has a keen mind. :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## crashdive123

Now that's not a bad thought.  In preparing for a shtf scenario, bring the food to you rather than go look for it.  I like it.

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## dragonjimm

sorry ken. my daughter does the same thing when i mention how fat her guinea pigs are.... :Big Grin:

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## Rick

Hmmmm. Now there's a thought. Maybe while everyone is out raiding the grocery store I'll raid the pet store. Hmmmmmm.

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## dragonjimm

hmmmmm.....how many gold fish to feed a family of five?

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## crashdive123

> hmmmmm.....how many gold fish to feed a family of five?


About 60 to take care of a frat house on pledge night.

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## Rick

Or only 30 if you want to reuse some. :Big Grin:

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## crashdive123

Before processing or after?

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## Rick

Well, you know the old saying at frat parties. What goes down must come up.

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## crashdive123

Or if you wait long enough.........

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## Ken

> Well, you know the old saying at frat parties. What goes down must come up.


Thought you were in a sorority?  :Confused:

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## nell67

> Thought you were in a sorority?


Brothers,will they ever stop picking on each other.

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## Ken

> Brothers,will they ever stop picking on each other.


Thinking about asking for DNA samples .......

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## nell67

> Thinking about asking for DNA samples .......


 
Just ask your mother,isn't her word good enough??? :Big Grin:

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## crashdive123

Gotta be careful what you ask for. :EEK!:  :EEK!:

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## Ken

She DENIES it.  :Smile:   Hospital clerical error maybe.

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## nell67

> She DENIES it.  Hospital clerical error maybe.


Wait a minute.... she the mother of a lawyer...and you beLIEve her??  (see,and I just ask you before if her word was good enough) See the word beLIEve there?? it has a big lie right in the middle of it. :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## Rick

Are you concerned you aren't human? That's certainly possible.

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## nell67

Who?? Me or Ken??

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## Rick

Ken, dear. He's the one that wants a DNA sample. I figured he's just trying to prove he's human.

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## Ken

> Wait a minute.... she the mother of a lawyer...and you beLIEve her??  (see,and I just ask you before if her word was good enough) See the word beLIEve there?? it has a big lie right in the middle of it.


But Nell! 

Mom's always told me I'm handsome.  Mom's always told me I'm brilliant.  Mom's always told me I'm wonderful.  Mom's always told me that I'm the most perfect thing to ever grace the earth with his footprint (paraphrasing from "Remo Williams").  

Ya' SEE!  MOM HAS NEVER LIED TO ME!   :Big Grin:

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## Ken

> Are you concerned you aren't human? That's certainly possible.


Nothing is beneath you, is there?  :Mad:

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## Rick

At the moment, my chair.

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## Ken

> At the moment, my chair.


You sure you know which way is up?  All those PMs I get suggest you don't.  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## nell67

> Ken, dear. He's the one that wants a DNA sample. I figured he's just trying to prove he's human.


Ok ,LOL 2345

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## nell67

> But Nell! 
> 
> Mom's always told me I'm handsome. Mom's always told me I'm brilliant. Mom's always told me I'm wonderful. Mom's always told me that I'm the most perfect thing to ever grace the earth with his footprint (paraphrasing from "Remo Williams"). 
> 
> Ya' SEE! MOM HAS NEVER LIED TO ME!


 
LMAO! But what did she tell Rick behind your back?

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## Rick

Uh, 

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

It's the opposite direction most of my packages are delivered in.

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## Ken

> Ok ,LOL 2345


What, did he post something else?  Glad I clicked on that "ignore" button.

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## nell67

> What, did he post something else? Glad I clicked on that "ignore" button.


Man,if you dont know what he said,I'm not telling,not starting a family fued on the forum! :Stick Out Tongue:

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## Rick

By the way, if you start back on your medicine all those "PMs" will go away.

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## Ken

> LMAO! But what did she tell Rick behind your back?


Mom's always told Rick that Ken's handsome. Mom's always told Rick that Ken's brilliant. Mom's always told Rick that Ken's wonderful. Mom's always told Rick that Ken is the most perfect thing to ever grace the earth with his footprint (paraphrasing from "Remo Williams").  And Mom always told Rick that he was the exact opposite of Ken!  :Big Grin:

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## nell67

> By the way, if you start back on your medicine all those "PMs" will go away.


 :EEK!:  :EEK!:  :EEK!:  :Big Grin:

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## nell67

> Mom's always told Rick that Ken's handsome. Mom's always told Rick that Ken's brilliant. Mom's always told Rick that Ken's wonderful. Mom's always told Rick that Ken is the most perfect thing to ever grace the earth with his footprint (paraphrasing from "Remo Williams"). And Mom always told Rick that he was the exact opposite of Ken!


 
Rick must be your brother from another mother ???? :Big Grin:

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## Ken

> By the way, if you start back on your medicine all those "PMs" will go away.


Huh?  Do you take medicine for PMS?  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## crashdive123

Midol :Big Grin:  :Big Grin:  :Big Grin:

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## nell67

Crash,I wasn't gonna say it,thank you!

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## Rick

Yeah, but Mom always told me she liked me best.

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## Ken

> Yeah, but Mom always told me she liked me best.


And Mom always told me to be kind to those who are "challenged."  And I once asked, "what does challenged mean, Mom?"  And she said, "You know that wierd kid Rick who thinks he's your brother?  He's challenged"  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## Rick

My Wii refers to me as unbalanced so I guess challenged is acceptable.

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## Ken

> My Wii refers to me as unbalanced so I guess challenged is acceptable.


It's politically correct.  Remember, I was once a professor, too.   :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):   5-4-3-2-1

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## Rick

Trax posted a really good thread on how to skin both rabbits and squirrels. Squirrels are a bit different than rabbits to skin.

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...nning+squirrel

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## Ken

> Trax posted a really good thread on how to skin both rabbits and squirrels. Squirrels are a bit different than rabbits to skin.
> 
> http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...nning+squirrel


 Rated XXX

"Clarence, Jasper, all you guys... get inside now.  Rick's coming!

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## Rick

I was wondering if any of you use a squirrel call when you hunt squirrels? I've never used a commercial call but I have used two quarters. Scraping the ridged edge of two quarters together makes an effective call.

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## Ken

> I was wondering if any of you use a squirrel call when you hunt squirrels? I've never used a commercial call but I have used two quarters. Scraping the ridged edge of two quarters together makes an effective call.


Trying to use my "family" to get to me, huh?   :Mad:

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## dragonjimm

with  limited success i've used one. squirrels arent dumb and it dont take them long to figure out you not looking for a date

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## Ole WV Coot

I have found that my well trained "attack beagle" is also a great squirrel dog. He spots a squirrel in a tree and just sits & grins at it. In less than a minute the squirrel falls out dead. The "attack beagle" is getting a little age on him now so when I saw him grinnin' up a tree for 5 minutes I had to check on him. I looked up in the tree and all the bark off a big knot had fallen off. It became clear to me then that the doggie needed glasses.

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## danmc

> Anybody ever eat some squirrel before? Never have and woundering how it is...


Yes.  Squirrel is good.  Fry the young ones, turn the older ones into stew.  At least one cookbook I have lists squirrel as the preferred meat for brunswick stew.  I've used a pressure cooker and cooked until the meat falls off the bones.  At least for me it helps to not waste any.

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## Rick

Waste squirrel? Two more words that should never be used together in a sentence. 

See that, Nora? It's a cruel world out there I tell ya!

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## danmc

> Trax posted a really good thread on how to skin both rabbits and squirrels. Squirrels are a bit different than rabbits to skin.
> 
> http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...nning+squirrel



I'd imagine folks here have already seen this but just in case...

http://photos.imageevent.com/brobert...ng/SQUACKS.wmv

When it comes to skinning squirrels, Mr. Squacks is the man.

-Dan

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## Rick

Oh, the humanity! Don't look, Nora!

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