A question about squirrel?

[El gran J]

I've always heard that you can only eat rabbit if it's been shot after a hard freeze...is that the same with squirrel?

[Thumper Dunker]

You can eat them  any time make sure they are cooked. I eat rabbits when ever its rabbit season. July to end of feb.  Old wifes tale.
You are talking about tree squirrels not ground squirrels.

If you soak squirrels in a little cookies seasoning and RC cola they cook way more tender and are less stringy.

[macksdad]

I was always told not to eat squirrels until after a good hard frost, by all of the old timers around here. They always would say that the squirrels would have warbels if you shot them before a frost.  Warbels are fly larva that grow under the skin of a mammal. I don't really know if that is true or not, when I was a kid my dad would never let us hunt squirrel until october even though season came in the end of august. In my adult life have rarely had time to hunt squirrel before October because of work and by then It is all about whitetails.  I can't really imagine that one good frost would get rid of these warbels, however the fly population is usually gone by then. I hope someone here will have some good facts to prove if this is true or if in fact it is an old wives tale.

[Bowwild]

I have been an avid squirrel hunter for almost 50 years. Kill em any day of season and eat them any time.

If I happen to kill an older one I put it in a crock pot with a can of Mushroom soup. Tenders up real nice.

Today is the first time I can remember I've missed the opener in my state...8,000 miles separate me from my favorite opening morning hickory grove.

[americanhunter7]

Here you go. A link from University of Florida entomology about "lumpy" squirrels.

 http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/slansky/botfly/ABOTFLY/overview.htm

Hope this helps. Good read, and good to know if you do kill one infected in what to look for.

[Terry Lightle]

Season opens May 15 in Okla so hot weather is the norm and the half grown ones are the best eating that there is and have always ate them thru the summer

[T Lail]

I have killed them here in the early season and they have had "warbels".....they go to the cats.....otherwise, harvest and eat them all season long.....cook them in Brunswick stew, way good!!!!!!  

[cody94]

Originally posted by macksdad:
I was always told not to eat squirrels until after a good hard frost, by all of the old timers around here. They always would say that the squirrels would have warbels if you shot them before a frost.  Warbels are fly larva that grow under the skin of a mammal. I don't really know if that is true or not, when I was a kid my dad would never let us hunt squirrel until october even though season came in the end of august. In my adult life have rarely had time to hunt squirrel before October because of work and by then It is all about whitetails.  I can't really imagine that one good frost would get rid of these warbels, however the fly population is usually gone by then. I hope someone here will have some good facts to prove if this is true or if in fact it is an old wives tale.

same here i agree

[Night Wing]

Here in Texas where I live and hunt squirrels, both gray and fox, I've never seen any parasites in the meat.

Our squirrel season opens on October 1st in most counties which has a season on them.

Sneaking along the forest floor listening for signs of squirrels (leaves rustling in the tree mast, chattering, etc) makes hunting for them a very enjoyable hunt on a cool crisp October morning.    

[Lambow]

Our squirrel season opens every year from Aug.15th here in Ga.(this past monday) to Feb.28th.
We don't see many squirrels with wolves,(that's what they are called here)but if one is killed with them, it won't effect the meat, and will be fine to eat.

[limbshaker]

Here in 'bama the parasites are called "wolves" too..never heard of "warbels" haha    The parasites are horrible lookin things, but they are only in the skin. Just peel the squirrel and cut out any bruised lookin spots where the wolve was (there probably isnt any) and cook him up! If we didn't eat squirrels with wolves here, we wouldn't eat many cause sometimes the frost don't come till late. I can't wait to get after some tree rats!

[Gump]

We have always eaten them if they still had warbles. Just skin them and the meat is fine.

[Night Wing]

Those parasites are called "wolves" in Texas too. But, I've never seen one on any of the squirrels I've dressed and I do 90% of my squirrel hunting in the month of October.

[dnovo]

Our season always opens about the end of May and as a kid I would kill 75 to 100 every summer with a .22 rifle. That been a few years now, but I still get some with the .22 but mostly just the longbow. Never have found one with the warbels. Kill 'em when you can

[ChrisM]

Never heard that.  That was only for rabbits as the hard freeze killed the wormy and sick ones instead of curring an illness. Have killed and eaten thousands of squirrels but never noticed anything besides a few fleas or ticks.

[2madjacks]

Originally posted by ChrisM:
Never heard that.  That was only for rabbits as the hard freeze killed the wormy and sick ones instead of curring an illness. Have killed and eaten thousands of squirrels but never noticed anything besides a few fleas or ticks.

 I agree

we callem wwolves here in mo. to, never seen one on a sqirrel and our season opens memorial weekend. so we have a long season...even if i did get one with a wolve i wouldnt worry about it, skinnem and cookem well done.....

[Rick Perry]

I've been eating sqirrells since I was a kid (I'm 56 8^(  ......in the 60's most of illinois had no deer so sqirrells are what you learned to hunt on .......... in my opinion we would be better off do that today ......... I just dont agree with starting a kid hunting worried about p&y score and g 2's and all the malarky thats being sold today as deer hunting ...but back on the original subject... you can eat them anytime .......... to this day I think fried YOUNG  squirrell is the best wild game meal there is !!!!


 If they are older is helps to flour and brown them and bake them in a dutch oven at 250 degrees for 2 hours or so ........ even the old granpa squirrell with trophy sized gonads ... LOL ..... come out tender and finger lickin good

[S. Brant Osborn]

Yep, we call them wolves and of a squirrel has them they will normally come out with the skin. If you miss a few then just make sure they get battered and seasoned before you fry em up!