Squirrels!

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tim_n

Full Member
Feb 8, 2010
1,726
124
Essex
A long term ambition is to learn how to prepare a squirrel (and rabbit?) for the pot.

Anyone able to do a workshop or 1-2-1 on this? Should have mentioned it earlier I guess - I can't (currently) provide the squirrel either :(
 
Apr 8, 2009
1,165
144
Ashdown Forest
Tricky to skin (tough), but a surprising amount of meat on them in comparison to their size! Much more than on a rabbit. MMM full of nutty goodness!

If you aren't able to see a demo, i'm sure you tube will have a few videos on it.
 

Longstrider

Settler
Sep 6, 2005
990
12
59
South Northants
Plenty of them on the Moot site, judging by the way my 'Cadbury's Fuit and Nut' got pinched from under my tarp last time I was there. I kid you not ! :lol: Next night I smoothed the ground off around it and got the little perishers tracks so I know it was a squiggle.
Having lost most a big bar of the best choccy in the world to them, I'd be heartbroken if one were 'fall over' and volounteer for game prep demonstration. Especially if it still had a bit of purple foil stuck between it's front teeth :lol:

Got to take issue with the Lord Poncho on the amount of meat on them though. Yes, they're good eating, but nowhere near as much fodder on 'em as on a coney.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
Not as much meat per animal, no, but compared to its size i think it has a fairly high meat to 'other gubbins' ratio!

Not that I've seen (and I do like squirrel) Mostly bones. Rabbit on the other hand is more meaty.
Bag 4 of each though and you've got the beginnings of a good Brunswick Stew.
 

Aaron Rushton

Tenderfoot
Jul 27, 2011
92
0
S. Wales
squirrels are pretty difficult to skin, and take a lot more time and effort to skin than a rabbit, and you get less meat! i can do a rabbit in 5 minutes but it takes me about half an hour or more for a squirrel!
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
squirrels are pretty difficult to skin, and take a lot more time and effort to skin than a rabbit, and you get less meat! i can do a rabbit in 5 minutes but it takes me about half an hour or more for a squirrel!

That seems a bit excessive. I can clean either in about 5-10 minutes.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
Clearly you are relating everything to Florida Squirrels. In the UK i can assure you that often the only way it's possible to tell the difference between a squirrel and a fully grown cow is via the bushy tail.

I'm relating mostly to Grey Squirrels (also called "cat" squirrels) in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas (and other places I've hunted them) Granted Fox Squirrels are much, much bigger (about the size of a cat ironically) but Fox Squirrels are endangered and illegal to hunt in most Southern states.

I remember the Grey Squirrels when I was in the UK and no, they weren't any bigger than the ones here; they actually seemed smaller. Do you perhaps live near a nuclear reactor?
 
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Apr 8, 2009
1,165
144
Ashdown Forest
No- but we do live near a medical research lab. Only other week giant, hyper intelligent squirrels (apparently they were created as part of a programme to develop squirrels that could mow lawns and undertake basic tree surgery) broke out of the facility and undertook a small protest at the local Morrisons in Cheam, resulting in a 500ml bottle of coke being "thrown in an aggressive manner" at a community support worker, and a child of 9 having her foot run over by a trolley being pushed by her distracted mother.

Armed police were called, and to cut a long story short, there isn't much freezer space in the local morgue. Crying shame really- because I’m sure that the coroner will not even bother timing how long it takes to skin them and perform a post mortem.

Just another example of a lost opportunity.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
Please do a how too! I'm pretty awful at squirrel prep also :(

I prep squirrels and rabbits both in the same manner:

-Pinch the skin at the base of the neck and cut through it to make a hole large enough to get a couple of fingers under the skin.
-Grasp the head in one hand and work a finger or 2 under the skin; pull the skin off whole like pulling off a glove and discard or set asside for later use.
-Cut of the head, tail, and all 4 feet and discard.
-Slit the belly open from the rib cage to the anus (be careful to only cut the flesh and not the organs)
-Reach inside and pull out all the guts and discard.
-Remove the anus and genitals.
-All that's left is to quarter the now cleaned carcass (rabbits may need to be cut smaller than quarters) and rinse thouroughly.
 
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