Squirrel on the menu?.

[Brent Francis]

A mpg is worth a thousand words.

[Brent Francis]

David, I was told that the squirrels in the UK are an introduced species. After recieving English Sparrows the Americans retaliated with grey squirrels. Is this true? One thing you may want to concider is keeping the tails. They are highly prized by those that tie flys for trout and salmon. also as ornamentation for pickup truck antennae.

[david ross]

Originally Posted by Brent Francis

David, I was told that the squirrels in the UK are an introduced species. After recieving English Sparrows the Americans retaliated with grey squirrels. Is this true? One thing you may want to concider is keeping the tails. They are highly prized by those that tie flys for trout and salmon. also as ornamentation for pickup truck antennae.

Hi Brent.
I beleive the grey was introduced in the UK for it's fur and some escaped and as they say the rest is history. I do give some to my mate for fly tieing but as for ornamemtation not in UK . This country is run by furry friend lovers and do gooders who would like all us gun owners disarmed.
So tails on a antennae would give the sh-t anti's more ammo.
I wish some of our gun laws were like yours.

All the best Dave.

[Brent Francis]

Dave, I lived in Surrey (loved it) for a couple of years so I was kidding about the squirrel tails on antennae. It wouldnt be well recieved in many places here eather especially urban areas in the "blue" states.

[david ross]

Originally Posted by Destry L. Hoffard

Charlie has it right as far as I'm concerned though I usually use bacon grease rather than cooking oil.

You can usually tell the old ones from the young by the lack of hair on the sack of the boars and the lack of hair on the belly of the sows. The young ones will have hair in these spots.

If you get older squirrels and younger ones in the same hunt leave a foot on the old ones when you freeze so you'll be able to tell the difference when you go to cook them.

The old ones need a good parboil before you fry them. Or, the best way, is to fry them then put inside a pressure cooker for a few minutes. That will make even the most tough old squirrel as tender as a yearling.

Roger Giles would fry them in advance then put them in a baking dish in the oven with chicken broth for a few hours to slow cook further.


Destry

Hi Destry.
Well i never!!! so from now on i shall be looking at those SACKS.
Some one told me squirrel curry is nice with brown rice.
All the best Dave.

[MarketHunter]

From what I was told by some British friends on my visits over that way, the american grey squirrel is one of the big reasons that the native red squirrel has become so scarce in the UK. The only place in lower England they haven't infiltrated is Brownsea Island (Birthplace of the Boy Scouts) in Poole Harbor. You still see the occasional one up in Scotland though they're scarce even that far north. Do you still have any reds in your area Dave?


Destry

[Richard Flanders]

Interesting Destry. In my experience in Michigan the red squirrels are far more aggressive and can drive all the fox and greys out of a woodlot. They sure did on our farm once they found our woods. I shot them on sight any time of year.

[MarketHunter]

Their red is a different squirrel than ours, it's about the same size as our grey. In all the running around I ever did over there I think I've seen two, both way up north in Scotland.

Destry

[Richard Flanders]

So, more like our red squirrel/demon on steroids than like our fox squirrel I assume?

[david ross]

Originally Posted by Destry L. Hoffard

From what I was told by some British friends on my visits over that way, the american grey squirrel is one of the big reasons that the native red squirrel has become so scarce in the UK. The only place in lower England they haven't infiltrated is Brownsea Island (Birthplace of the Boy Scouts) in Poole Harbor. You still see the occasional one up in Scotland though they're scarce even that far north. Do you still have any reds in your area Dave?


Destry

Hi Destry.
No reds in S. EAST England all driven out by the grays. Also the grays carry
the squirrel pocks which kills the reds in 8 to 10 days. It has been said
that the British red squirrel will be extinct with in 20 years.

So as you can see i try to shoot all i can but i don't think we can stop them
you shoot 1 or 2 and 4 pop up in there place.

All the best Dave.