Logically rats and squirrels are both rodents and biologically related. I've been told squirrels are just rats with a fully tail. Many people hunt and eat squirrels, but few in USA or Europe would consider eating rats. Why? If New Yorkers loved to eat rats as much as these people on Vietnam their rat problems would go away.
Eat what you kill?
- Thread starter BlackICE
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@BlackICE The diets and behavior of rats and squirrels in my area are very different from what I can tell. I wouldn’t want to eat a city squirrel. We had a ton at the university and one tried stealing my lunch one day while eating outside. Students also used to feed them. Those things ate almost anything. So based upon that, it’s any easy pass. As for the rats, it could just be my perception based upon the culture that I grew up in, but there’s nothing exciting about eating a dumpster-diving gutter rat in NYC. There are too many other animals that I’d eat first. A beaver is also a rodent that I’ve tried, but they're herbivores. Even after trying that I still wouldn’t consider eating a rat unless I was starving.
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Given that the Asians are eating the wild rats out of the rice fields where they ain't crawling through trash, no problem. But even they know not to mess with the ones from the garbage heap. Way too many parasites and diseases.
I don't even think about eating anything out of my yard. Squirrels like to roll around in dog crap, chew through lead based paint, and gnaw on wiring. Stuff I don't need in my food chain.
I don't even think about eating anything out of my yard. Squirrels like to roll around in dog crap, chew through lead based paint, and gnaw on wiring. Stuff I don't need in my food chain.
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We always hear how some cultures eat anything and everything?
Truth is, there are farms that raise food to eat. I remember I had a childhood friend that raised pigeons to eat, no way in hell they would eat a wild one.
Truth is, there are farms that raise food to eat. I remember I had a childhood friend that raised pigeons to eat, no way in hell they would eat a wild one.
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I eat most of the squirrels I shoot. My son will eat them too but my daughter will not. The ones I get are not dumpster diving, they are eating my acorns and pine cones and other normal stuff (for squirrels). They will be tough unless you cook them a long time. When I clean them I keep only the legs and back part of the back. So 5 little pieces per squirrel. I throw these into my electric pressure cooker and cook them for an hour. That makes them tender. As I eat them I either dip the meat in bbq sauce or I pluck the meat off the bones first and then put bbq sauce over all the meat. Quite tasty. If you pull the meat off the bones first it is a lot like eating pulled pork. If you take the meat off as you eat the pieces it is a lot like eating wings. The last wild rabbit I ate was about as tough as a typical squirrel. Wild meat tends to be very low in fat so it can be tough if not prepared appropriately. Other than that, I don't see a reason to avoid it.
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@JimD I may have to try the pressure cooker deal. I saw a member do the taco thing like that. I think it was @Florida_Man. I actually took some deer meat out to make burritos today. Now back to the squirrel. I've fried them and cooked them in a crockpot. The tender pulled squirrel idea sounds good. I haven't had any tough rabbit, fresh or thawed after freezing.
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I eat some of the squirrels I pest here in Huntsville. For me the main thing is how they look the hide, the skinned carcus and do the orgins look healthy not spotted or deceased. I would agree with there is a difference in dietary consumption with rats in major cities and it's also a phycological thing.
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Yes, rats and squirrels are both rodents (which simply means to gnaw, in Latin), but so are groundhogs, beavers, and about 40% of all other small land mammals. Rats and squirrels are from completely separate families in the biological sense. Implying that they are so closely related that eating one is like eating the other is way off base.
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Rats are in that group of some stuff just needs killing. Not in a place in life they look appetizing atm. Other cultures eat a lot of stuff we don't. I've watched a lot of those world food shows....Vietnam has some kind of pig brain gravy and dipping bread usually prepared as street food. If given the chance I don't think you could stop me from trying that stuff. Every other part of a pig I have eaten was good.
Roasted racoon is better than you might think. I would call it similar to dark meat turkey in a lot of ways.
Roasted racoon is better than you might think. I would call it similar to dark meat turkey in a lot of ways.
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Yes. Not exactly what I would even consider as appetizing. God only knows what diseases were present, even with vet tags.
Growing up, never pressure cooked squirrels. Usually they were chicken fried in a nice old seasoned cast iron pan. Or the meat was just stripped off and pan fried for biscuits and gravy.
Damnit..... Now I'm hungry. There goes the diet.
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I like my squirrel done in a pan with curry sauce. BBQ sauce would be good also I will have to try that one of these days.
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@dv8eod That rolling around in feces is odd behavior to me and nasty, but I’ve read about and seen smaller animals doing that. The explanation makes sense, but not so much for a small arboreal animal. I’ve prepared them in gravy as well. Strange to forget to mention that.Yes. Not exactly what I would even consider as appetizing. God only knows what diseases were present, even with vet tags.
Growing up, never pressure cooked squirrels. Usually they were chicken fried in a nice old seasoned cast iron pan. Or the meat was just stripped off and pan fried for biscuits and gravy.
Damnit..... Now I'm hungry. There goes the diet.
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I like the young grey squirrels that have been eating black walnut, the fat on them has a walnut taste, cooked in a Dutch oven with some morels or even oyster mushrooms! Their diet is important, rats will eat all kinds of things each other included.
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Ground squirrels NO!! Tree squirrels are not allowed to be shot in Los Angeles so they get a pass. Rabbits are good during season.
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The rats around me are very selective on what food they eat. I've tried many types of foods on a bunch of traps. Most of the time they just sniff but don't bite. When they finally bite I would say in this order this is what they prefer.
1. Bird seed, taken readily, but hard to attach to a trap.
2. Fresh slice of an apple, 1 day old they pass.
3. Nuts, walnuts, peanuts
Others not so good.
I think there is enough other food they are used to that they are smart enough to avoid something new and possibly dangerous.
Not that I'm going to eat any rats, but cooked in a pressure cooker I would think would denature most any pathogens. Of course doesn't help with toxic metals and prions. If food sources are scarce resorting to eating rats could provide an ample supply of protein.
1. Bird seed, taken readily, but hard to attach to a trap.
2. Fresh slice of an apple, 1 day old they pass.
3. Nuts, walnuts, peanuts
Others not so good.
I think there is enough other food they are used to that they are smart enough to avoid something new and possibly dangerous.
Not that I'm going to eat any rats, but cooked in a pressure cooker I would think would denature most any pathogens. Of course doesn't help with toxic metals and prions. If food sources are scarce resorting to eating rats could provide an ample supply of protein.
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Vietnamese also eat cats and dogs, so there is that.
I've heard dog actually taste good, but I can't ever see myself doing that unless the world is about to end and that's all I got.
I've heard dog actually taste good, but I can't ever see myself doing that unless the world is about to end and that's all I got.
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