Wednesday, March 04, 2015

Eating Squirrels


                                                           FOOD EMERGENCY






TODAY'S "Coping with government induced disaster" memo



SHTF Blog has a really good piece up on building a squirrel gun for SHTF scenarios. I don’t want to detract from it because it’s solid and you should read the whole thing, but I do want to offer a note of caution. (I’m certain that the author is aware of everything I’m about to say. Again, I’m not detracting.) I’m a longtime squirrel hunter, and like everyone else, I see them everywhere here in the city and have thought on more than one occasion that if the SHTF I could bag a few for the family.

But let’s not be under any illusions: the squirrel population is going to drop to zero really fast when the food runs out. Anyone who’s planning to eat for more than a week on squirrel will go hungry. They just aren’t as plentiful and calorie-rich as you think they are.

Assuming that you can get a pound of game meat from an average squirrel, which is optimistic, you’re looking at about 540 calories per squirrel. That may sound like a lot, but it isn’t. If you’re planning to use squirrel for, say, only a quarter the calories of a 2,000-calorie per day diet, then you have to bag one per day per family member.

There are about five or six squirrels per acre in urban areas (about two per acre in rural areas), so with four family members to feed and a 100% success rate in killing every squirrel you see, you’re clearing out around three acres every four days in the city. And you’re not the only one trying to eat them! How long is the squirrel population really going to last in your town?  (continued)

"Planning to Eat Squirrel when TSHTF? "  That would be me.  Every time a squirrel has a heart attack in our yard I say to MoSup that maybe we ought be encouraging them so's they can feed us when the time comes.  The real reason though, as I've  previously stated,  that I have declared war on squirrels is economic.  Evidently the people who make automobile fuel lines found it cheaper to use a vegetable based, rather than oil material to make their product.  Sold, no doubt, as "saving the environment." Net result, squirrels eat it.  Here's a copy of my most recentfourth in 6 yearsbill for replacing a fuel line.  That bill doesn't not include the cost of road service when I run out of gas on the Bay Bridge! Remember, if squirrels did not have furry tails they'd be indistinguishable from rats. 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

When the SHTF, a .22 caliber head-shot can be put to far better use than bagging a squirrel; Just sayin'…

Phil N. LeBlanc

mostly cajun said...

yeah... squirrels... deer... sort of takes the air out of that 'A country boy can survive' thing.

And I'm a 'country boy'. I know how many people used to fish and hunt a chunk of land and bayou and marsh when I was a kid. I know that area could support a few families. There aren't just a few families out there any more.

MC

Anonymous said...

We have manatee down here. A lot of meat there. And they taste like spotted owl!
Tim

Anonymous said...


Good news for urban dwellers, when the free stamps run out. . .

"Remember, if squirrels did not have furry tails they'd be indistinguishable from rats."


There are at least 10-12 of these for every apartment, not to mention the subway system.

Geo

Anonymous said...

My dad made me skin and clean squirrel on my own before he showed me the easy way. If you don't know the proper way to clean a squirrel, it's a major pain in the ass to get the fur off.

Darrell said...

I've heard of "rabbit starvation", but I suppose the squirrel equivalent would apply.

Fred Z said...

Me, I'm gonna eat "Millers", just like the starved midshipmen did in the Aubrey & Maturin novels.

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