Politics from the Palouse to Puget Sound

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

A Use For Pullman's Squirrels

I don't recall the precise story anymore, but a former employee for Pullman's Parks and Recreation department released two male eastern gray squirrels to solve some sort of problem that could have been solved more conventionally.

The problem was that the squirrels were not both males. Only one was. So now we have a plague of the pests here. I'd love to thin the herd around my house, but my neighbors would probably complain if I started mowing them down with my .22, so I was pleased to discover an alternative solution that the British have employed - eating them into oblivion.

"A number of places in Northumberland are thinking of having grey squirrel on the menu.

"I haven't tried grey squirrel but people I know who have say it tastes like chicken used to taste when it tasted like chicken.

"The Americans have numerous recipes for grey squirrel, with the most popular being Brunswick Stew, which is casseroled squirrel."

Last year Lord Inglewood, who lives near Penrith in Cumbria, warned the red squirrel will soon become extinct if the non-native grey population is allowed to go on increasing.

He suggested then that one way of dealing with the problem would be to foster a market for grey squirrel meat.

He said: "What about celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver promoting it for school dinners? I have never actually eaten a grey squirrel but I am prepared to give it a go."


Just be careful that you don't eat the brains.

3 comments:

The Red Knight (aka, Dr. Know) said...

There are tons of uses for squirrel besides for food too. Their tail would make a very fashionable hat ornament. Even their skinny hides make a soft, yet surprisingly supportive leather jock strap.

Satanic Mechanic said...

Do you have a cat? There use to be a rodent problem around the house I moved into. I let loose my attack phalanx of cats and they took care of the problem quick.

I need to find the video again, but some guy made a squirel catapult. He would put bait in the catapult, the squirel would go for it and the catapult would eject the squirel into the neighbor's yard. It scared the squirels so much that they never returned.

Michael said...

Hmmm. The squirrel catapult idea is tempting. Except that I'm not sure how I could keep other critters, like birds or my neighor's cat from getting launched.