Anyone eat Squirrel's?

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Doesn’t get any better than this.
 
Very cool JohnP. I really envy those of you who have "different" squirrels. I'm lucky enough to kill quite a few every year, but we have red fox squirrels and gray squirrels. Be fun to hunt an Albert's or some of those multi-colored fox squirrels. Nice pics.
 
How come the northern and western squirrels are so big? down here, our squirrel are 2/3 the size of the one in the picture. Everything out here is so small! Except our bobcats, for some strange reason.
 
A.W. .. I think you'll find that to be true with most critters. Has to do with the climate, cold and survival. That's why big Texas whitetails weigh 135# - big Iowa whitetails weigh 200 and big Canada whitetails weigh 300. I can't account for your bobcats.. maybe they just eat good?
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We're just starting to get a huntable population of bobcats back here. Buddy who traps caught a 40#er last year but most I see are 30 and less... mostly less.
 
Originally Posted By: GCBergmann's Rule...

There you go, GC.. My feeble old mind couldn't come up with it and I was too lazy to look it up.
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I normally eat 4 legs, back and ribs.. I do admit occasionally the dog gets the ribS because they Take up a lot of room in the skillet. What's there is tasty - there just ain't much of it.
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Originally Posted By: cmil84Do you guys eat anything other then the legs

Four legs and the saddle (back). I don't mess with the ribs, there just isn't enough there to fool with for me personally.
 
Down here in the southeastern corner of Az we don't have very many squirrel's and I don't normally hunt them. However I make two trips per season into northern Az,about a six hour drive for me.

Like GC four legs and the saddle. The rest then goes into the pressure cooker, with some white wine and seasoning. After a while the meat falls off the bones and we then add vegetables, potato, carrots, corn, etc. Makes for a good quick lunch soup. the drippings from the fry pan makes excellent gravey.

Thank you HideHunter
 
Well. Poleski - not sure I totally understand the question but I'll offer this. If a squirrel isn't visibly sick (emaciated - visible sores or tumors) it's probably safe to eat. I know a lot of people put stock in checking the liver on rabbits. But, in truth as long as you cook your meat past 165 degrees there's very little chance of contracting anything from eating game. (Cook bear meat *done*)

You would be more likely to pick something up while dressing squirrels/rabbits/ etc. Many people use rubber gloves and it's probably a good idea, though, I haven't for the past 50 years and probably never will.

As I've stated before, I guess I'll feel lucky if it's a squirrel kills me. Only thing better would be a 25 year old jealous husband.
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ballistic - I've never eaten the brains but know some who do. Don't guess I'll start with the connection to Mad Cow in KY. Besides that - I don't plan for the brains to be in very good shape when I'm done.
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mad squirrel disease! yep its get brought up now and then, but you know what i'm in my mid 50's and have eat them all my life, my dad and grandpa always ate them and they made it to 80's. if we only knew what was in the hotdogs and other processed foods we eat I don't think squirrel would be at the top of the death list. now zombie squirrels is another thing:)
 
You know what Ballistic? I never tried them but I'd like to *one* time done by someone who knows how to cook them - just to say I did. I did an article on "Mad Squirrel Disease" 15+ years ago. Interviewed a Dr. (his name escapes me for the moment)from KY. His exact quote at the end of the interview was, "I'd tell an older friend who had been eating them all his life to go right ahead... But, I wouldn't let my kids or grandkids start."

Shoot - ain't none of us getting out of this world alive.
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Saw where someone mentioned squirrel brains, my mom hates it when i shoot them in the head with a 22lr because she will skin the head out and throw it in a frying pan after shes cooked the rest and take a spoon and eat the brains... makes me gag everytime but thats how she was raised when you ate every part of the animal.
 
What you need is chicken of the trees.

Sorry Charlie Star Kist doesn't want squirrels with good taste, they want squirrels that taste good.
 
We cleaned some up the other weekend and cut them in halves to fit into my pressure cooker. We added enough water to cover them, with 4 chicken bouillon cubes and pressure cooked them for 45 minutes. We put 4 cans of golden mushroom soup with 4 cans of water and 1 can of milk and simmered it until thick in another pot. We added the meat to it and let it simmer. Some of the best squirrel I've eaten. I also removed the musk glands on the squirrels for the first time and they really were mild before we put them in the soup. I'll do that from now on as I think it really does make a difference.
 
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