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WestYou are in: Inside Out > West > Squirrels in a Stew?  'Ethical' meat? Squirrels in a Stew?Is eating grey squirrels an ethical solution to a spiralling population of the little bushy tailed fellows in the Forest of Dean, or is the whole idea abhorrent? Inside Out examines the problem of increasing squirrel numbers in the West Country.
Grey Squirrel FactsGrey squirrels are not native to the UK they were introduced from the USA in the late 19th/early 20th Century. They are widespread throughout England and Wales but are absent from the rest of mainland Europe, except for small localised populations in Italy. They feed on acorns, tree shoots, flowers, nuts, fruits, roots and cereals and they bury surplus food below the soil or in tree hollows. They have tended to displace red squirrels in areas of woodland where the two have come into contact. Source: BBC Science and Nature. The grey squirrel was introduced into Britain from America in the late 19th Century and there are those that would say he’s been up to no good ever since! In the 1950s the grey squirrel became an outlaw, stripping trees of their bark and killing native birds. 'Ethical' meatNow, foodies are hailing squirrel meat as a new "ethical" food.  Cute or a good ingredient for a fricassee? If grey squirrels are regarded as pests and need to be controlled, they say, then why not eat them? But for some, this idea just doesn’t stand up. Kate Fowler is an animal rights campaigner and she doesn’t believe that killing squirrels is right. "We have an awful lot of alien species in this country and if we’re going to pick the ones we like and then not pick the ones we don’t like then that’s a very illogical position. "Culling is always inhumane and almost invariably doesn’t work." Growing demandHowever, at the 'Taste' deli and restaurant in Bristol, according to Steve Downey, the owner, demand is apparently growing. "We’ve gone from selling 500 to 1000 in the first year to probably selling about four or 5000 this year so it’s definitely on the up.  'More sauce with the squirrel, sir?' "It’s a wild animal, it’s freely available, it’s going to be wasted if you don’t eat it, therefore you should be using it. "I think it’s fantastic." 'Taste' source their squirrels from gamekeepers who trap and shoot them as pests and people do order it in the restaurant. So it seems it’s firmly on the menu for the moment. last updated: 12/02/2009 at 12:43 SEE ALSOYou are in: Inside Out > West > Squirrels in a Stew? |
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