Can people eat tree squirrels?

Question

I know about the whole rabies thing but I was told that if you cook it right then you dont have to worry about it. When I was small I remember my uncle shooting them down from the power lines then frying them and everyone would eat them.

Answer 1

Yes of course, unless it has rabies or any other disease we can't eat it. We are animals to you know!

Answer 2

Squirrels, or "tree chickens" used to be a very popular food. Settlers and those who lived in heavily forested areas obviously couldn't be too picky about what they chose to eat. Lots of animals you think wouldn't be edible are.

A neighbor of mine, an older lady, used to fix squirrels all the time. My dad would bring them home after a hunting trip and she would fry them like chicken. Squirrel is actually pretty tasty.

I'm not sure about the whole rabies thing, though. I never heard it mentioned, and I doubt my dad would have let me eat it if there was any danger of that.

Answer 3

OMG why would you want to eat that? Go to the store and get some real meat, like a steak. Then you wouldn't have to worry about rabies.

Answer 4

I prefer roadkill scraped off the tarmac

Answer 5

yes you can. i have a coworker who loves tree squirrel. i think it's disgusting but he eats them. he actually evacuated his wifes g*y friends from a barbecue by throwing a squirrel on the bbq because he didn't want to host the bbq anymore. lol  he's from the south.

Answer 6

well then people obviously do!!! what the h**l kind of question is that?

Answer 7

Ask a redneck.

Answer 8

No, rabies are rabies.  If the squirrel has rabies don't eat it. That is why most don't eat squirrel like they used too.  But if ya got ta eat one look for 'THE JOY OF COOKING" cook book. There is a recipe for squirrel, rabbit, turtle, quail, duck, and tons of way back then recipes.  I have it and it is a constant source of simple recipes.

Answer 9

yes you can eat them after you clean them soak them in a container of salt water overnight  and either  rinse it off and freeze it or  boil it with some onions then drain it throw away the water and onions and cut it up in pieces  coat it in flour and salt and pepper and fry it  use the pan dripping and make gravy yummy  

Answer 10

you can eat watever u want just use ur imagination  

Answer 11

Om,

    A hundred years ago and further back in time, they didn't have grocery stores on every corner.  We've only had electricity and refrigerators for about a hundred as well (roughly).

   Before that, finding and eating meat on a regular basis was a challenge.  My dad (gone now) used to shoot squirrels for food all the time when he was growing up.  Most people did.  Perhaps not in New York or Boston, but definitely in the rural areas of the country, which meant almost everywhere back then.  

  

   They also took turns butchering hogs and beef and took turns sharing with the neighbors.  It got eaten up as fast as possible to keep it from spoiling.  Some of it got smoked, some got preserved in salt, and some got dried out too.  

  

  They also ate rabbits, opossums, deer, raccoon, bear, wild turkey, wild ducks, wild geese, chickens (of course), eggs of any kind,  fish of any kind any time they could (including dynamiting and netting), and smaller birds.  I've got a friend in his 40's that as a poor child growing up in the 70's would shoot robins with a bb gun and then peel off the skin, skewer them on a stick,  and roast them over a fire made from old boards and trash.  They were very poor.  When you are poor, political niceties such as being green and eating tofu and yogurt and organic meat are non-options.  

   Some of these may not taste as good as a grilled rib-eye, and they may not be tender (some are, depends how they are cooked), but when you get hungry enough, your standards change a bit.  

-Kevin

Answer 12

Sure. People can eat pretty much any animal, insect, or fish. The question is why. All over the world people eat rodents, insects and all other unusual meats out of necessity or cultural tradition.

Answer 13

Huh yea I guess that's what they hunt for.

ain't killed us yet!

Answer 14

If it has ticks and bleeds you can eat it.