Yep,I invite those tasty tomato thieving varmints to my supper table every now and again...they always enjoy the gravy ,er..I mean we do!:>)

Mike

Oh no, took me a minute to get it. I'm like okay I can see the tomatoes, beans,zucs or cucs, but what is the fried thing? okay the title, I get it. I'm all into be self-suffienct, but I don't know about squirrel. Plate looks good though.

Great harvest.

Ted

It is the rabbits I have finally had it with. I have gotten out the pellet gun. I have to be very careful because I have a neighbor who lives across the street who is a real PETA nutjob. So I am very careful about getting rid of them. For some reason the rabbits have really multiplied unbelievably. My other neighbors have told me to get every one of them that I can; but just to beware of the people across the street. The rabbits have totally dug up my front lawn, run tunnels through the junipers, totally destroyed my roses, dug up my peppers, and taken out my carrots and lettuce. The only thing they have not gotten into are the tomatoes. I guess they are having such a fine dining experience on everything else that they are not interested in them. But out came the pellet gun last night. I am already 1 for me zero for the rabbits. If I get one per night I think I will have things under control in about 2 weeks. When I run at night I have to watch where I am going. They are in the road, on the sidewalks, diveways, everywhere. In 23 years I have never had such a problem like this before. I wanted to set out poison, but there are only two effective poisons on the market and both of them require a permit to use. I wanted to lace some carrots with gopher poison but the nursery guy said it would not work. Well, the pellet gun sure does. And it is quiet too.

Any way the squirel legs look delicious. So does everything else for that matter.

Tom

Good lookimg bountiful harvest. I may need to get some recipes for mocking bird and cardinal. My squirrels are well-behaved to this point.

Paul

Mike,

My Dad preferred them in gravy but I've found that most tend to want to over cook game. I won't say the older ones aren't a little tough but the younger are very tender and juicy if not overcooked. They were yummy.

Tom,

In off season, I'd depend on animal control. Thats really the only legal way. Once season opens, my State allows trapping which is much easier and safer than using a projectile in a high density area. Check the link at the bottom. Looks the same as we build except we use a forked stick for the trigger support. Rabbits taste similar to squirrel but are usually more tender, especially, comparatively to size. Lots more published recipies too compared to squirrel, since at one time, it was considered high eating to the well to do.

A pair of welder's gauntlets to grab the hind feet and a karate chop to the back of the neck is how we dispatch them but make sure its a bunny in there. Welder's gloves wouldn't be enough for almost anything else.

Paul,

It may be a locality thing but I don't have any trouble with birds. In fact, I think they do bug watch for me. We keep a bird bath freshend and feeders yr. round. I see them in the plants but never find damage. They seem to like the florida weave strings and arbor. A very pleasant arrangement

Here is a link that might be useful: Rabbit control

That was said light-heartedly. I Keep a bird-feeder full and adequate water for all. I also believe you have to plant plenty. I enjoy watching their antics.

Paul

Aaaaack....I wasn't expecting to see the little thing dredged and fried. Yuck. Maybe I really am too citified, but do people really eat squirrel? I'm sorry if this sounds dumb. I just wasn't ready to see the little legs on the plate...Cbad

I've not eaten squirrel - yet - but if it truly tastes like rabbit next time I'm offered one I'll certainly take it. I love rabbit! But it's funny - we only see an occasional squirrel here. We don't have many hardwood trees around here. So we actually get excited when we see one. Rabbits on the other hand... I have freezer space saved for them!!

Edie

They charge 20 bucks a rabbit up here in the grocery stores.

Word of caution:

Be wary of tularemia and plague! Skinning and cleaning infected animals is how people in the US get these diseases.

Ewww, is it just me or can any of you see a little tuft of fur sticking out at the top of the second one in from the left? Good eatin' is as good eatin' does, but for gawd's sake, clean those hides!

Squeamishly,

Rain

It's also good if you boil it like you're gonna make squirrel and dumplings. Then take the pieces out and put them on a baking sheet and add a little breading with some cayenne pepper. And don't worry about a few hairs (I'm sure that's not what we're seeing), because it's all protein.

One of the many memories I have of my dad and his closest brother was a meal my aunt prepared that included squirrel, rabbit, ground hog, bob white quail, and ruffed grouse. They were all small game and all went through the above preparation and were all absolutely spectacular.

Great looking plate. Those out there that have never had to hunt to eat, as I did as a teenager and before, should look carefully at that picture. Many folks are alive and healthy because of preparing that kind of meal instead of going hungry because of someone else's paradigm.

That being said, I quit hunting when I finally got to the point where I could buy meat protein. That was in 1977. Now, I enjoy getting venison jerky from those that still hunt.

Again, great looking meal. Brings back some really good memories. And, BTW, I would guestimate the squirrel population to be more than 10 times what I remember as a child when most folks hunted and supplemented their diets with wild game.

Ted

Yes, I noticed that fur too, Rain! What a gruesome ordeal for a measly 1 or 2 oz of meat. And also a great way to ruin a perfectly nice plate of tomatoes.
~Caroline

I'm wondering where Dave got the Shake N Bake for squirrel. I thought they only made that stuff for chicken and pork.

Geez, what the hell is wrong with you hillbillies? I am surprised nobody has recommended a vintage of moonshine to go with assorted garden critter. White + trash = you.

Dem's feudin wurds, Jed!

I am surprised nobody has recommended a vintage of moonshine to go with assorted garden critter.

Here in the Blue Ridge -- and while I am not a native, I did have ancestors on both sides in NC and VA -- we just lost an excellent, award-winning, upscale-but-not-too-pricey restaurant to the recession. They had an item on the menu that was flavored with corn likker ... I always wondered where they got it. Does the ABC (state-controlled hard liquor outlet) stock moonshine?

I'm afraid the closest to "garden critter" I've ever eaten was goat (and no, it wasn't the wily Billy Goats Gruff who used to live just up the street and climbed over/under multiple fences to assault my newly-planted trees and daylilies). And turtle soup, once at a street fair when I lived in the Big City.

People who think sushi and sashimi are delicious tend to turn up their noses at squirrel and rabbit and venision and pork brains such. I know, because I raised two daughters like that. They ate it when they were young but turned on me when they grew up.

Hillbilly, redneck, just plain folks... all of them ate and still eat whatever doesn't make them sick. How about crayfish? Nothing much more disgusting than mudbugs but some people love 'em.

And other cultures think we're the worst offenders when we eat cows. Go figure.

Whatever doesn't turn your stomach, there's plenty to eat in this world. Don't judge others by your own taste in food.

Sandy, who has eaten many things but hates sushi and plans to eat some of the dastardly squirrels who ate all my tomatoes!!!

Hey, anything's better than catfish.

I'd rather suck on the bottom of a sewer pipe.

LOL, anthony_toronto! ;-)

Well, I checked on the documented cases of tularemia and they are mighty slim.

As for plague, I guess an infected flea could bite you while you were dressing game but a little simple math will show you that you take a lot more chances driving to the store.

Since I cleaned those squirrels myself and that was my plate, I'll vouch for those not being hairs, my guess would be sinue. Never noticed it till the pic was on the PC, by then it was too late.

As far as being gruesome, it is. I've never enjoyed the act of killing. Not once but I'm an omnivore and having meat in your diet means somewhere along the line, there is going to be some gruesomeness. Any kind of honesty demands that recognition.

If they have to go, and they do if you have too many. Its a lot less gruesome to me to cleanly harvest rather than any number of other methods.

I'll bet some of you eat hot dogs :-)

Looks good to me. The only thing missing is a dish of piping hot 'poke salit' seasoned with some fried salt pork. We grew up in the city but my Mum was from the country and she knew how to cook squirrel, rabbit, possum, bear, deer, goose, duck and yard bird. She was a fantastic cook. She cooked and we ate -- with no problems at all.

DL

Dave, it seems to me like there's a few folks here who will starve to death if they ever lose their jobs and can't mooch off someone else. A few others obviously have never been hungry. And one or two need some variety in their menus.

I'm actually a bit jealous of that plate full, Dave. I think you done good.

And for those who don't know, In states with an Alcohol Control Board (VA and NC come to mind), you can buy legal Moonshine. It's about the same price as Vodka and has its tax stamp just like the other spirits.

And Anthony, that comment was totally uncalled for.

And don't anyone start the North/South thing. Dr. Carl Sagan (RIP) stated on national TV that the earth is a southern planet. Makes all the N/S thing irrelevant.

Y'all play nice now. Us grownups have work to do.

Ted

New England Clam Chowder vs. Manhattan Clam Chowder...

let the war begin! lol

Ted,

Thanks. I doubt they starve. I bet they get more enlightened the hungrier they get :-)

Fortunately, I've never been hungry or had to eat game to avoid it but from a small child, I never had doubts about where food comes from or how to get it either.

Holly, One vote for NE CC.

Okay, DL, I have to ask: Just what is a "yard bird"? There was a chain of hardware stores along the WA coast years ago with that name. The logo showed two large crows, sort of Heckle and Jeckyll-ish in appearance.

Dave, glad to hear it is sinew and not hair.

Rain (who eats hot dogs, but not HAIRY hot dogs)

Dave, shame on you! This is the tomato forum!

Rain, a yard bird is either Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, or Jimmy Page.

Another vote for NE CC. Yummy creamy stuff.
Sandy

And for those who don't know, In states with an Alcohol Control Board (VA and NC come to mind), you can buy legal Moonshine. It's about the same price as Vodka and has its tax stamp just like the other spirits.

Interesting! I've never been in the ABC (you can tell I drink a lot of hard liquor). I'll have to tell my father -- he had no answer when I asked where the cook got the corn likker.

===

Rain, a "yard bird" is a convict. Cf. the 60s rock group.

[Okay, I looked it up to be sure (being a good librarian), and it can also mean "An untrained military recruit" and "A soldier confined to a restricted area or assigned menial tasks as a punishment."]

That should be NE with a side dish of sliced 'maters!

Yardbirds are the chickens that are allowed free run of the yard. You know, those that leave those plops for you to step in with your bare feet in the summer. Kinda squishy between the toes.

Sandy

Considering DL's Mom "cooked and we ate", I sure am hoping he was talking about Sandy's free range chickens!

Fun post, y'all.

Rain

Looks delicious. I keep my CO2 pellet pistol with my gardening supplies. I find the pistol handier as it's harder for nosy neighbors to see what you're up too. All but one would applaud my efforts to protect my produce. Seeing as I can't eat it all and they get my extras. Walk into the back yard with the pistol in your pocket. Pop the squirrel or rabbit in the noggin. stick back in pocket and carry offending rodent into garage for harvesting. Just powerful enough to rid myself of varmints, but not so powerful as to be a danger to people or property.

Yard bird = chicken (hen or rooster - young or old!) If chicken/bird is old laying hen you boil her until she is fall off bone tender and then make dumplin's to go in the gravy.

DL

I collect old cookbooks and I have one that has recipes for things like sqirrel, rabbit, possum, coon and all kinds of critters. Said to my husband if it ever came down to survival at least I would know how to prepare it. I have a nice little population of woodchucks along my property line ....looking at them in a different light now. LOL

I've never eaten possum that I thought was good but all of the others definately can be.

Rabbits are the easiest to clean, followed closely by squirrel. Rabbit is usually more tender, taste is very similar.

Ground hogs and coons can be a little funky to clean but young ones can be pretty good BBQed though probably most fry them.

All can decimate gardens.

I love this thread...every time I look at I laugh! Don't know if I could go out a shoot them myself, but I'd try it if someone cooked it.

LOL! I haven't harvested any squirrels in years, but then, they don't eat my tomatoes either... Detente'