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Can You Eat Squirrel From Your Backyard?
Whether you can eat a squirrel or not from your backyard depends a lot on your eating habits. Some people eat squirrels for excitement as they love to do hunting. Therefore, it gives them a chance to follow their passion for hunting without killing any endangered species. The remaining people usually eat squirrels to have a slice of better meat as compared to a rabbit. Yes, it is not mandatory to eat a squirrel. The meat doesn’t have some special nutrients. However, if you are willing to eat a squirrel, then you must know certain factors.
There are different breeds of squirrel all over the world. Not every breed has a huge population. Therefore, some breeds come in the category of endangered species. Thus, killing them will lead to strict legal actions against you. There are even other factors that can ruin your experience of eating a squirrel from your backyard. Thus, you need to keep the following things in mind before eating a squirrel form your backyard.
- The breed of the squirrel
- Legal codes of your state
- Method of hunting
- Treatment of the meat
- Recipes that you can make
Hunt the right breed
As mentioned earlier, the population of breeds is different in each region. You need to do a deep research about the population of breeds in your area. It is recommended to hunt the breed that has the largest population in your area. However, if you are living in the United States, then hunting the grey squirrel is the best option. Why we say hunt the squirrel with most population? Because hunting them will not get you into legal problems. Yes, the wildlife department will not be knocking your door that way.
Know the legal codes
It is extremely necessary to know the hunting rules in your state. There are some states, which do not allow the hunting of any animal, including squirrels. Therefore, you need to make sure that it is legal to hunt squirrels in your area.
Choose the method of hunting
There are two basic methods to hunt a squirrel. They are as follows
Use Traps
There are various traps available in the market, which you can use to trap a squirrel. Do make sure that you select high-quality traps that cannot be broken by the squirrels. It is also important to make sure that you can easily kill the squirrel once it is trapped. There are some traps in the market, in which it is difficult to kill a squirrel after it is trapped. Therefore, you shall not buy these kinds of traps. It is also necessary to add some bait in the traps. You can put something to eat or some toy in the trap. This will lure the squirrels towards the trap. Hence, you will be able to catch one easily.
Shoot
Maybe you want to follow your passion of hunting. In that case, you can even use a gun to hunt a squirrel. There are various weapons in the market that are specifically designed for hunting down squirrels. However, the best weapon is the one that is easy to reload. Squirrels are fast. There are high chances that you may miss a few shots. In that case, you will always need a gun that is ready to shoot within a few seconds. Make sure that you maintain the gun frequently, as you don’t want to face any problem with the gun while hunting.
Treatment of the meat
Once you hunt down a squirrel, it is extremely important to treat it immediately. You cannot leave the squirrel for hours. Why? Because that way, many bacteria will grow on the meat that would be harmful to your health. Thus, you need to clean the meat properly before cooking it. Do make sure that you are wearing gloves while treating the meat. If you are not going to cook the meat immediately, then put it in the freezer. The temperature of the meat should always remain below 4 degrees Celsius.
Squirrel recipes
There are hundreds of recipes that you will find on the internet for a squirrel. However, not all of them are delicious. Here are the best recipes that bring out the real take of squirrel meat. Do make sure that these dishes have numerous variants. Choose the variant that suits your tongue.
Deep frying
Have you seen the process of French fries? This recipe is similar to them. You need to create a mixture of egg, pepper, salt, chili in a bowl. Make sure that all the ingredients are mixed properly in the bowl. After, that put the slices of meat in the mixtures. Stir all the ingredients again. Now, carefully pick out a piece of meat that fry it until the color is light brown. Serve with sauce and enjoy.
Also read Deep Fryer Reviews
Smoke the meat
You can even make sausages from the squirrel meat. Do make sure that you maintain the temperature with consistency in the smoker. There are various devices available in the market that converts the meat in sausage. All you need to do is get a pack of wooden chips and smoke the meat in the smoker.
There are other recipes like slow cooking too. They are usually preferred as they give the meat a soft texture. In this method, the meat is cooked for hours inside a pot with lots of vegetables.
Wrap up
There are various benefits of eating the meat of squirrel. The meat contains vitamins like B12, which are beneficial for the body. However, there are even chances of getting a disease from the meat. There are various instances where people have lost their lives due to this meat. Therefore, you must make sure that you treat the meat properly before cooking it. The meat should be cleaned properly and should be kept in the freezer for at least four hours.
You should also be careful while killing the squirrel. You must be wearing a pair of gloves so that you do not catch any infection. Overall, if you are willing to follow the procedures properly, then yes, you can eat squirrels from your backyard.
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