I've been threatening to post about the delicious Eastern grey squirrel, and the time has finally arrived. Early fall presents a hustling, bustling time for adult squirrels as they scurry through our garden collecting all the food they can stuff into their tiny mouths to carry home for winter storage. The squirrels are grown now, so I feel comfortable taking some of them knowing that if I catch a female, she doesn't have babies somewhere that will starve to death.The curious ask me if I'm concerned about the squirrel's diet, disease or urban pollutants. No, not at all.
First off, I know exactly what our squirrels have been eating: strawberries, squash, tomatoes, plums, Douglas fir seeds, apples and sunflower seeds. All summer long, directly from our garden and birdfeeders. Squirrels also eat bugs and on occasion will pick at carrion, though this is uncommon.
As for diseases, all meat is suspect these days unless cooked, regardless of the species, and we do cook the heck out of our squirrels. We do not eat squirrel brain, a delicacy in the southeast of the United States, as they are potential Creutzfeldt-Jakob (mad squirrel disease) vectors.
I don't have a definitive answer for the pollutant question, but for the sake of the planet, I'm willing to take a bit of risk. I did find a study on squirrels near a Superfund site in the northeast. None of the contaminants of concern were found in any of the squirrels tested. It's not the whole answer, but it's informative nonetheless.
Anecdotally, I've seen several videos of squirrels who will come running for organic corn chips, but will turn and run from GMO corn chips. So they won't just eat anything that's put before them, especially while there's plenty of good stuff in the vicinity (strawberries, tomatoes, squash, etc.)
"Melany, why do you eat squirrel when there are so many other delicious sources of protein available to you?"
- Eastern grey squirrels are an invasive species in western Washington. They are considered "vermin" by insurance companies, animal control agencies and the like. Some claim that Eastern grey squirrels have crowded our native squirrels out, though this continues to be debated.
- I am not in the "vegetarian is more humane and kinder to the planet" camp and can give you about a million reasons why that myth is untrue (but I save that for another entry).
- Unlike factory farmed animals, squirrels live a natural life doing what squirrels were born to do. They collect food, store it, raise babies, and scramble around tall trees and household gardens.
- Squirrel is healthy, lean meat,
- Relative to beef, squirrel has a lower food conversion ratio, they requires less food to gain body mass.
- Compared to soy and other protein monocrops, the squirrels' diet can be said to preserve biodiversity.
- Squirrels are frequently trapped and euthanized as a way to control damage to homes. Relocation is not an option and is generally not allowed for a variety of ecosystem health reasons.
- Squirrel meat is local (my front yard)
- Currently, the population of Eastern grey squirrels is very robust and certainly not in danger of decline.
- As small prey, squirrels give birth to a relatively high number of young each season, with nature's expectation that some will be taken by predators, only there are few predators in urban settings.
- There are several methods for humanely killing squirrels.
- Harvesting urban (or rural) Eastern grey squirrels for food does not break any local, state or federal law.
- Squirrel is easy to trap.
- It's F.R.E.E.!!!
- I am spiritually aware of my meal's sacrifice.
- Squirrel is easy to prepare.
- Squirrel meat is delicious (like rabbit, but darker, leaner meat).
- The use of Confined Animal Feedlots (CAFOs)
- Cruel treatment of animals
- Fed an unnatural diet of cheap corn
- Feed requires large monocrops of corn and soy
- Antibiotics
- Growth Hormones
- Resistant e-coli's
- Environmental impact
- Waste management
- High food conversion ratio
- Inhumane slaughter
- Unfair labor practices
- Huge carbon footprint (from pesticides to transporting cattle and finished meat products)
Squirrel has also recently become quite the popular dish in England. The British are doing everything they can to suppress the invasive Eastern grey squirrel population so as to relieve their native squirrel populations of a source of a deadly contagious disease, including eating them.
And while I don't care for his politics, I have to admire Huckabee for his resourcefulness.
As for the quality of the meat, usually in my neighborhood it is excellent. I was surprised to discover there is no gamey flavor such as you would find with venison, wild goose, etc. However, older animals can require a bit more cooking. I've also read accounts from people who were put off by the boniness. In my experience, the only challenge is taking the meat from the rib cage (which is solved by sliding each rib bone through your teeth so as to scrape the meat into your mouth). The rest of the squirrel is easy to debone.
And SO, over the past couple years, we have become quite comfortable with squirrel eating. If you don't believe the Brits, Mike Huckabee or me, even the ever famous Joy of Cooking cookbook contains instructions for dressing and cooking squirrel.
NOTE TO THE SQUEAMISH: Your reading stops here. The following is a description, with photos, of how to clean a squirrel.
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| Bait a 17x7x7 "Havahart 1077" squirrel trap with a yummy "last supper" meal of crackers and peanut butter. |
In the interest of Mrs. Squirrel's dignity, I am
not posting photos of her demise. Rather, I
describe the means narratively, below.
How did I kill the squirrel? A simple drowning. I know, I know, it sounds horrifically inhumane on the surface, but let me explain my thinking process. From the moment it's trapped through the final moment of death takes all but a minute. Death by any other predator would, more often than not, take about the same period of time, often much longer. The actually drowning takes about 4 seconds. After researching things like lethal injection, gas chamber, blunt trauma to head, .22 or BB gun, the best option for the squirrel (as well as for the edibility of the meat) is drowning. I'm sure there are readers who will disagree, and I invite any suggestions for a more humane option.
I look at it this way: my meal lived a natural, free ranging life, experiencing one unpleasant minute - better than most living creatures could say (certainly better than most humans).
AFTERNOTE: After reading this story, my friend Jennie Grant, founder of the Goat Justice League, turned me on to something called a "Rat Zapper." I will still argue that drowning is more humane than most options. CO2 turns lungs acidic, causing pain; it also affects the meat). Shooting is not foolproof and I don't want to risk maiming an animal causing it to suffer, plus discharging a firearm in the city is strictly forbidden. I could reach into the trap and attempt to grab the squirrel to hold it still while I dispatch it in some other manner; however, judging by how "squirrely" they are, it would take me some time to catch one, even in the confinement of a trap, causing the squirrel prolonged stress. I watched my trap so that I could drown it immediately. My aim was to make it as quick as possible. Once the animal is unconscious, I sever the jugular vein to bleed it out. This ensures they are completely dead when I begin skinning them (unlike the many animals in factory farms that are skinned alive.)
Several sources on squirrel natural history claim that 99.9% of urban squirrels die either by being hit by vehicles (wouldn't be my first choice), being poisoned (a grizzly death), or by being pulled limb from limb by a dog, cat, hawk or coyote (WAYYYY down my list of "ways I'd like to go.")
Now, having said that, I far prefer using the Rat Zapper. It runs on four D batteries and kills the animal immediately by electrocution. I now use it exclusively. In the interest of the Seattle Times' schedule for publishing their story, I briefly reverted to the quicker method of trapping and drowning. I worried if I did not catch one soon, I would encroach on their breeding season and we would have to wait until next year (I don't trap in mid-winter, spring and summer as they are breeding and rearing their young.) Squirrels are a bit more wary around the rat zapper and it can take several days to finally take one.
Before using the Rat Zapper, I watched Youtube video of rats being trapped in this manner and I can confirm that death is instant.
To all my vegan readers, how is it we are so certain plants do not experience pain? Just because they don't have central nervous systems does not mean they do not experience anxiety and pain prior to death.
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Second Afternote. Excerpted from the letters to the editor re 11/29/11 Seattle Times article on urban squirrel eating:
"I challenge you to find empirical evidence that drowning is a bad way to go. I've done a massive internet search and was unable to find anything. Even anecdotal evidence is missing. People who come back from a near death by drowning describe it as a peaceful experience once they're completely submerged. It's when they're splashing around at the water's surface that they experience the uncomfortable panic. There is reportedly no actual pain with drowning.
A couple things happen during drowning - the laryngeal adductor reflex prohibits the animal from taking a breath of water, there is brief panic and an attempt to escape the cage, the animal is rendered unconscious by asphyxiation. It seems to me it would take about 4-6 seconds for an animal with the lung capacity of a squirrel to be rendered unconscious.
She states in her blog that she slits their jugular as soon as they're unconscious to ensure a complete death (not just a stunning).
I've seen other stuff on the web that suggests 99.9% of urban squirrels go by 1 of 3 ways: car, dog/coyote/hawk/cat (yes, the precious pet YOU brought into the neighborhood!) or poisoning - all painful, drawn out ways to go.
Also - a lot of suggestions about somehow pinning the squirrel down to get a clean shot. How does that work without prolonging the panic/suffering?
I suppose you could also gas the little critter, but again, that requires some time and depending on the gas, pain. Seems you'd want to end the panic asap.
Sounds to me like she's done her research and has found the most humane, legal method available to her living in the city.
Everybody dies. Everybody experiences pain. Everybody eats to extend their time on the planet. Adults eventually "get" this painful reality and learn to live with it.
Oh, and one more thing, there is also no imperical evidence that plants do not experience panic and pain on being picked to eat. In fact, there's more evidence by the day suggesting otherwise.
Ms. Vorass - if you're out there reading these - please don't let the knuckleheads here get you down. You're doing a great thing by going beyond merely talking the talk.
22 comments:
Funny you should JUST do a blogging on Squirrel, as last night, pre-gig, I spoke with an 80+ year old man at our gig (yes...a Rock N Roll gig...they're like groupies :). We talked 15 minutes about squirrel hunting and all the ways he's prepared them over the years. THEN the dogs caught a small one in OUR BACK YARD this morning! Natalie had to run out and pull the dogs off....poor slobbered on little squirrel got up, dusted himself off, and scrambled up the nearest maple. No Lie! And of course, I used to take Benny and Keisha squirrel hunting and came up with several great squirrel recipes suchs as Squirrel-itos (basic cooked squirrel, off bones, then into a tortilla shell with fixins...similar to a burrito) and "rasberry rodentia" which was you're basic 'manwich' but made with a dollop of rasberry jam to spice it up...eaten on a hamburger bun...yummmm!!! Happy Trapping!
Jamie
Ha! Jamie, I NEVER would have had the courage to try it had my brave brother not gone before me : )
I have used Seattle urban squirrel pelts for fly tying material. Skin, salt using non-iodized salt, and snip hair as needed when tying flies for fly fishing. I'll have to think about cooking up a snack next time. Might as well use the rest of the squirrel!
Love the blog. Just wanted to add that an alternative method to drowning is CO2. The industrial canister is preferable(and cheaper) than the whip cream cartridges that are found at restaurant supply stores. It's quick and won't scare the hell out of your neighbors, unless of course that's what your after;) Happy hunting!
Anonymous 1: I plan to line some slippers with my pelts.
Anonymous 2: I really wanted to try the CO2 method, but read in a couple spots that the experts are now claiming it's inhumane as it creates an acidic (and painful) environment in the lungs; in addition, I worried that messing around with getting the animal into the 'gas chamber' would take more time and cause more stress.
Additional suggestions are most welcome! I plan to continue eating meat. My challenge is finding a way to do so with the least impact on the planet and in the most humane way possible.
Thank you SO much for taking an interest!
Instead of using CO2 in your gas chamber you could use helium or nitrogen preferably nitrogen but neither of which cause any sort of side effect like the CO2. I've seen videos of people nearly gassing themselves by just inhaling from a balloon one to many times.
Also all you would have to do is just get a chamber bigger then the cage and just stick the entire cage in it. I also can't picture it being to much worse getting them into a gas chamber then it would be to drop them in a bucket of water.
I'd defiantly reconsider the gas chamber route if you want to do it the most humane way possible.
Thank you for the suggestion! I am looking into it. I'm thinking the zapper is still more humane simply because it's so quick. If you look up "rat zapper" on Youtube, you can see footage of how it works with rats. Wonderfully well. Not sure I said this anywhere, but once my squirrel is unconscious, I immediately slit the jugular to ensure it's dead before I begin skinning it. Thanks again!
I've done a fair amount of killing of pest animals (possums, skunks, rats) over the last few years and can tell you that a pellet gun is not reliable, just not enough oomph. Forget about head shots, even with a .22. These animals have skulls like peach seeds, thick, and shaped so predators' teeth, and bullets, almost always glance off.
In fact, speaking as a dyed in the wool gun nut, shooting is a LOUSY way to harvest game, or pests. Hav-A-Hart all the way, baby! Or, box trap, conibear, etc. But I FAR prefer the Hav-A-Hart, since you either catch the critter, or you don't, with minimal damage to the critter - if you accidently catch a cat, you can let 'im go. And peanut butter on crackers or bread for the win, cats don't care much about it, and our targets care about it, very much.
For dispatching pests, you can drown 'em or, I use a .22 rifle, with a "Remington Subsonic" round, it's a hollowpoint, but not high velocity so it's fairly quiet, and I shoot into the "boiler room", the heart/lung area. Same area a deer hunter aims for. Then said critter is buried under a fruit tree. I am not sure this is any less hurtful than drowning, I like to think the sudden shock has a numbing effect though. Then ... they die. I'm rural so I can get away with this, and I'd need a trashcan full of water to drown a possum + the large trap I use. But when .22 bullets are scarce, water not, and silence the golden word...
For food, you don't want to use a bullet on anything as small as a squirrel you're gonna eat. I found an SPCA or USDA, maybe both, article on euthanasia online, I'm sure you can find it, saying the preferred method is to use a chamber with nitrogen gas. You can get dry nitrogen at some car stores, the hot-rodders are convinced it's best for filling tires. I've also wondered about ethanol (drinking alcohol) fumes in an enclosed chamber. Death by drunkenness! And it could help the meat.
DON'T reach in after a squirrel! They are pint-sized bodybuilders with wood chisels for teeth and they WILL mess you up!
The word "humane" gives me the chills if you have a look at what we are doing to the planet.
We have been living off road kills for a while here in Québec.
But there is room for more learning.
Thank you for the great information.
We also have a lot of information but in French...
http://piedsnusformations.blogspot.com/
http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/euthanasia.pdf
Here's a report, might be the one the other guy mentioned.
Thank you for the link to the AVMA position paper - yes, I've read it before. I think it's very good advice for people euthanizing pets, farm animals or lab animals. However, these recommendations were never intended to apply to hunting or to removing pest animals because in most cases they are not feasible.
Whether drowning was humane or not was hotly debated before the AVMA paper was published. It is still debated. with many professionals positing that drowning is humane, particularly with smaller animals.
The AVMA's mission as a lobby is to protect the position of "veterinarian," not for animals. Their mission: "The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), established in 1863, is a not-for-profit association representing more than 81,500 veterinarians working in private and corporate practice, government, industry, academia, and uniformed services. Structured to work for its members, the AVMA acts as a collective voice for its membership and for the profession."
Many organizations (including Washington Fish and Wildlife) refer to the AVMA position paper without questioning its validity.
There are no empirical studies on small mammals that demonstrate that drowning is inhumane. The question was tested in a court in England where it was determined there was no actual evidence to suggest drowning was inhumane.
Having said this, I will continue to look for the most humane way to kill a squirrel, as long as it's not cost prohibitive.
I'd like to say a couple more words about whether a hunting license is required in this state. WDFW is clear that dealing with pest animals that are causing property damage (in my attic's case yes), provided the method of dispatch is not inhumane, requires no hunting license. If a person decides to hunt squirrel exclusively for the purpose of putting meat in the freezer, a hunting license is required.
I am trapping Eastern grey squirrel because it's an invasive pest species that is doing damage to my structures. After researching squirrel as cuisine, I've decided to consume those squirrels that I dispatch.
Once again, the 'rat zapper' gizmo is now my weapon of choice as it's even more instant than drowning. Squirrels seem to experience such intense anxiety on being trapped that my goal is to find something that is VERY quick.
Oh, and I would use a gun if it were really doable, but 1) I can't safely or legally discharge a gun (even a pellet gun) in my neighborhood and 2) I can't be assured of a clean kill as the squirrel runs around making it difficult to take aim through the bars of a cage. I could reach in with a gloved hand and grab it, but it would take several tries before I could grab it in the right location for a shot to the head - all the while adding to the poor creature's anxiety.
I'll be looking into various gases (if they are not cost prohibitive) as well as death by inhaled ethanol (drunkeness).
I hope this better articulates my current rationale (which is of course subject to change). I'll be expanding on all of this in the book :)
Ms Vorass,
I read about your work on a British tabloid and have a suggestion that may or may not work - I plan to try it with squirrels in the Chicago suburbs in the future: Pressure cooking. I use pressure cooking to soften most tough meat. Please try and see if it works.
Best wishes.
Great idea! I haven't tried it yet because, so far, the squirrel has been very tender and not gamey. I think this is due to the primo diet they are consuming in my yard. I have a pressure cooker and have cooked older laying hens in it. It works like magic. I love my pressure cooker - it requires less energy to cook anything, not just meats. I use it for rice, beans, soups, meats and vegetables. Thanks for your comment.
Do you grab the squirrel out of the cage to drown it or submerge the entire cage in a basin of water?
Hi Marisa,
The whole cage goes in. Be sure you have a container large enough to fit the cage and be sure the water is deep enough. I used a large cooler.
It saddens me that so many relatively affluent, urban people looking for more "sustainable" ways to eat are turning to cruel practices to indulge their palates ... and their book deals.
I don't eat meat and I realize that if one is inclined to kill animals like this without any true consideration, I won't be able to influence them even slightly toward a plant-based diet. But, it troubles me deeply that this disconnect from empathy increasingly exists in our culture, where animals, both wild and domestic, are seen from a totally utilitarian point of view, as if we're entitled to take them at will, granting them no inherent value on their own. It's not much of an evolution from Cartesian thought to exploit them in this way.
Regardless of the designation game departments assign to various animals, squirrels are extremely intelligent, sentient, playful and innately social beings who suffer deeply when harmed in this way.
I'm a wildlife photographer and was trained as a wildlife rehabilitator. I've fed many baby squirrels admitted to the hospital after losing their parents. And, I simply can't fathom the callousness with which you perpetuate these myths and practices. We would often receive orphaned babies in the hospital so traumatized by the loss of their mother, they were agitated to the point of crying and anorexia. Again, whatever their species label, these are individual living beings who suffer, and in the case of slain adults, depending on the time of year, they often leave behind young to die from starvation.
To suggest otherwise is a convenient rationalization for the violent acts you choose to inflict on wild animals that deserves more consideration from us after all we do to destroy their habitat, interfere in their ability to survive, and reproduce to the extent that there's not nearly enough viable habitat left for the sake of our homes, subdivisions, and land relegated to our gluttonous meat-eating habits.
In a wildlife hospital there are stringent guidelines -- even for non-native species -- for appropriate and painless euthanasia. For you to say that proper euthanasia is suitable for pets but not for non-native animals defies what every wildlife rehabilitator knows and strives for, which is to show compassion to ALL wild animals. It's simply unethical to do otherwise. AVMA guidelines are considered by some to be a such a bare minimum standard that they're inadequate. They are certainly nothing to go below. The only reason certain animals are exempted from "humane" laws is for human convenience, and has nothing to do with their physiology and their capacity to suffer. CO2 is not suitable for certain animals and can actually inflict significant suffering on certain species, depending on how their bodies process the gases. Drowning is not painless and would never be advocated.
I simply can't imagine that people would choose to treat our beautiful urban wildlife in this manner, all for the sake of one paltry meal and a little adoration from a very misguided foodie community. If you're truly concerned about the welfare of the planet, I would give a lot more scrutiny to our own species and our invasive habits which are responsible for nearly every single ecological problem we've sustained. What a travesty that our tragically-hip culture now embraces all manner of bloodlust for the sake of locavore tastes.
I grew up in the 70s when we were moving toward greater understanding for our fellow species, and am so disheartened that we've stepped back into a darker age of exploitation of both domestic and wild animals.
Dear Ingrid,
I completely appreciate where you're coming from, having had similar beliefs and feelings when I was younger. (I too have worked in a number of wildlife rehabilitation settings, from the bird nursery at PAWS to cleaning oil spill birds. I've also spent a number years eating vegetarian and vegan diets.)
Our individual decisions on what to eat and how to go about eating it deserve our very close inspection. After very carefully weighing ALL the information I could find on the subject, I'm perfectly comfortable with the direction I've taken, though I realize it's not for everyone.
Although you disagree with me, I am always happy to 'meet' another person who agrees that we should treat animals with the utmost respect and humanity.
From my backyard to yours, thank you so much for everything you do for the sake of the humane treatment of animals.
Lovingly, Melany
Well, in turn I really appreciate your thoroughly well articulated, principled approach to this question. With which of course I agree all the way, as more or less a vegetarian myself and distant Wallingford neighbor who's been plagued for years with squirrel infestations. I thought they were cute at first, but eventually was driven to killing them. The term "wildlife" suggests a balance of nature that leaves the dirty work to foxes and the like, but in urban areas, species with too few effective predators become overpopulated, subject to disease, malnutrition and other stresses, so ... while I probably wouldn't be willing to kill them just to solve that problem, I don't think it's like going out to hunt red squirrels in the piney woods.
Ironically, now that I'm eating them, I have a new reason to be concerned about killing them quickly and humanely, since they'll taste better. The squirrel-zapper is an interesting possibility. We may have one around here somewhere, I bought one for rats but was disappointed that it wouldn't take nicad rechargeable batteries. As for pellet guns, I can assure you that there are air rifles with far more than enough to kill a squirrel, though of course that's problematic in an urban area.
I need to retract the notion that the rat zapper may be the most humane. I saw a squirrel go through what appeared to be an agonizing 30 seconds of electrocution before it finally succumbed. I was horrified and won't be using it again. I would like to tell you that I returned to my humane quick drowning, but if I did that I might have PETA, et al, at my door again. Suffice it to say, I do still eat the little critters.
Donn, can I get a critique from you on the squirrel meal(s) you had? Thx
Certainly. I've eaten only 3 so far. They're tender and mild flavored, requiring no special treatment. I don't have a solid basis for comparison, since I don't eat meat in general, but I bet they're like rabbit, no really characteristic taste at all. I just salt and pepper them, put them in a cast iron frying pan with some olive oil, cover and fry for a suitable time.
The male was about a pound, dressed. The two females were smaller, closer to half a pound, and more tender and better tasting. Though I don't think one could reasonably generalize from so small a sample.
Getting them to the table is of course tedious and gory work, enough to discourage most people in view of the small reward, even if you're not terribly squeamish. The procedure outlined above has been working pretty well for me, though I think one needs to split the pelvis before removing the guts (and some more stuff down there, I don't have that step completely worked out.)
I'm sorry I've discarded the squirrels I've killed in the past, because in some way the process of cleaning and eating them is to me a more committed and respectful consequence to killing them, and the meat is a small treat to this quasi-vegetarian. I don't think they'd be worth going after just for the meat, though.
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