Black squirrels vs brown squirrels

I believe the red squirrel is a fur bearing animal in ontario and as such is not to be hunted, you can hunt the black and grey squirrels and they are good, but as with all squirells a little on the tough side. They require long and slow cooking.
 
if it's a city squirrel, you don't want to eat it no matter waht the colour- they're kin to rats , y'know-
 
Grey (and black) squirrels are very fun to hunt and very good to eat. Look up cooking methods in a wild game cookbook, and you'll see that they typically require a period of slow boiling. The meat though is much like chicken wings. Sorry to use the old "tastes like chicken"...but it does.

For those who are not familiar with forest squirrels, though the same species they are very different from the city ones. They don't hop about in the open, they can be very secretive and can often be a great challenge to hunt.

RG

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way back in the 20's. our city ( calgary) zoo decided to import some AFRICAN BLACK SQUIRRELS- these were housed in WOODEN CAGES and consequently escaped- we've now seen them rise from a small infestation around the zoo to any place in town that has trees to support them- and thanks to overhead wires and traffic( they hop on the roofs of passing cars) they can go anywhere they want- or just plain set up shop because they forgot where home was- as for the big grey ones, the zoo says it's a color variant, but i've seen more than one hop off a camper truck that was out in the woods on the weekend
they don't really harm anything, but i've seen them tearing throgh garbage, etc and eating their dead, like the gophers do, so that's why i advise AGAINST CONSUMPTION
 
t-star said:
way back in the 20's. our city ( calgary) zoo decided to import some AFRICAN BLACK SQUIRRELS- these were housed in WOODEN CAGES and consequently escaped- we've now seen them rise from a small infestation around the zoo to any place in town that has trees to support them- and thanks to overhead wires and traffic( they hop on the roofs of passing cars) they can go anywhere they want- or just plain set up shop because they forgot where home was- as for the big grey ones, the zoo says it's a color variant, but i've seen more than one hop off a camper truck that was out in the woods on the weekend
they don't really harm anything, but i've seen them tearing throgh garbage, etc and eating their dead, like the gophers do, so that's why i advise AGAINST CONSUMPTION
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Whats wrong with that? I eat the dead ones too. Easier than the live ones.:)
 
The black squirrel is a melanistic subgroup of the eastern grey squirrel. If they exist in your area they usually outnumber the remaining greys 10 to 1. They are also a lot easier to see and hunt. It was our big game when I was a kid armed with my Russian made, IJ-22 in .177 cal.
 
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Threemorewishes said:
The black squirrel is a melanistic subgroup of the eastern grey squirrel. If they exist in your area they usually outnumber the remaining greys 10 to 1. They are also a lot easier to see and hunt. It was our big game when I was a kid armed with my Russian made, JJ-22 in .177 cal.
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Your absolutely right, There`s dozens upon dozens of blackies. No grey`s.
I shot alot of grey and red suirrels in N.B., I found the reds tasted like the pine trees they lived in.
 
Reds are a fur bearer. Can't shoot them unless you have a trappers license, in Ontario, anyways.;)

I grew up on squirrel, rabbit, and catfish. Quite tasty too.

You realize soon, you've got to shoot bigger game cause those striploins on smaller game just don't cut it....:D
 
7mmlefty said:
Reds are a fur bearer. Can't shoot them unless you have a trappers license, in Ontario, anyways.;)
I grew up on squirrel, rabbit, and catfish. Quite tasty too.
You realize soon, you've got to shoot bigger game cause those striploins on smaller game just don't cut it....:D
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I seen one red/grey today, he/she was quite a distance away. All I saw was a big a$$ bushy tail attached to a good sized body
never tasted catfish
I agree, It takes alot for a good stirfry;)
 
Only on this website would I expect to see a question raised about eating squirrels. And I love it. I have thought of eating squirrel and when I was at UBC in Vancouver I know the squirrels ate pretty well inlcluding oreo cookies, peanut butter sandwiches, alcohol filled chocolates and any tofu-bran contraption the hippies would throw away to biodegrade. If you ask me, their diet still sounds better than the Grainfed Lillydale guarantee. . . A question: What it the suggested method for cleaning and cooking? Do you prepare like a chicken? Can the hide be pulled off or must it be cut off?
 
We used to have an excess of black coloured squirrels around my parents place. we'd see the odd grey one, and a few reds. My dad put a bounty on the black ones, he'd buy me bricks of ammo and I'd shoot em every opportunity I got. Shot an average of 5-6 per week for about 4 months. After that they got pretty scarce, and the grey/red squirrels and chipmunks reigned supreme for 4 years or so. The blacks are more numerous now. I never ate them, was always curious about the taste. The friggen things were 100% grain/seed fed and pretty fat. My neighbor always said they were good eating.
 
We have lots of black squirrels here in south vancouver, they have "pushed out" the grey squirrels. A story was written about the black squirrels, says they were "imported" from Eastern Canada by someone.
 
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