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"...Unlike at other, similar hunts, these full days of hawking did not culminate in family-style meals; there were no hunters stirring pots of gamey stew or smo

"...Unlike at other, similar hunts, these full days of hawking did not culminate in family-style meals; there were no hunters stirring pots of gamey stew or smothering their chicken-fried squirrels in cream gravy..." I'm trying to understand if this really means the hunters do eat squirrels on other occasions? How is it chicken-fried? Btw, the other day I was a surprised observer of a large grey bird trying to snatch a live squirrel righ off a relatively busy kids playground. I thought it was an owl, now think it could've been some transient hawk. The attack was unsuccessful, the brave rodent waved just in time to evade, then busily continued its foraging... Wonder how a big-city squirrel can acquire a pray-bird evasion skills or this knowledge is somehow hereditary?

forgotmypw17 5y ago
Hawks are not that uncommon in urban land, even Manhattan has a handful hawks. Many tactics for avoiding predators are indeed taught from parent to child. I know it's true for bunnies, so I'd guess squirrels are no different. However, even without any prior training, imagine if you yourself saw a giant bird of prey (bigger than you) coming at you from above, you'd probably do your best to get the heck out of the way, wouldn't you?
- zoomablemind 5y ago
  What was really amazing is that the squirrel did not run away and up a tree like it does when encountering a dog. Just waved a few inches side to side and just kept very much on the same spot were it was foraging the instant the bird attacked, like another day in the office. Such a badass squirrel indeed!
  - clairity 5y ago
    that doesn’t always work. i once hit a squirrel with a football that i was sure it was going to dodge. but after scampering back and forth, it dodged right into the path of the football at the last moment. it didn’t appear to be hurt, and scurried away afterwards, but i still felt really bad about it.
    - a1369209993 5y ago
      > but after scampering back and forth, it dodged right into the path of the football at the last moment. Note that (like many evolved things) squirrel behaviour is designed around a actively adversarial environment. (It may or may not have had a explicit mental model of the process, but from a behavioural perspective) it was likely expecting the football^Wnovel bird of prey to course-correct towards it, in which case lunging in the opposite direction that the attacker just expended effort accellerating toward gives it the best chances of getting away. (Or something along those lines, I don't know enough details to be particularly sure.)
      - clairity 5y ago
        yah, that's kind of what i assumed as well. the squirrel was stunned for a good few seconds, not realizing what had gone wrong with its evolutionarily-inherited strategy, which was a cartoony kind of funny after-the-fact.
throwanem 5y ago
I've had squirrel, though not chicken-fried. It was gamey but not bad, more like rabbit than venison. ("Chicken-fried" just means breaded and fried cutlets of something that isn't chicken. Often served back home with white sausage gravy, and just the thing for supper on a chilly night.) Hawks will take more than squirrels. My mom carries a pistol to let her dog out - he's a Shih Tzu, well within the size range of prey a redtail will stoop on, and it has been a problem before - and her chickens occasionally benefit from a little anti-air fire as well. Urban environments can be well suited to raptors, especially those with a habit of preying on birds. Peregrine falcons nest in a fair number of our structures, one of which is visible from my front porch, and Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks are frequent visitors; while as accipiters these latter favor taking passerines on the wing, they won't shy from taking mammal prey. Squirrels are fast and agile, and big raptors can have a hard time giving chase after a failed stoop, so it isn't as one-sided a contest as it might seem.
giardini 5y ago
zoomablemind says >"I'm trying to understand if this really means the hunters do eat squirrels on other occasions? How is it chicken-fried?"< Most squirrel hunters eat squirrel. Most prepare it like fried chicken. But since most squirrels are smaller than an adult chicken you need more squirrels to make a meal. Squirrel is tastier than chicken. Its more challenging to hunt squirrel than to either harvest or shop for a chicken. Perhaps Popeye's will someday feature "chicken-fried squirrel", making me both fatter and lazier.
- zoomablemind 5y ago
  If squirrel meat is anything like rabbit's, it is low fat. So the danger may be mostly from the Popeye's added oils. Otherwise I'd be concerned more about "rabbit meat starvation" aka protein poisoning [1]. [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_poisoning https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_poisoning
adrianmonk 5y ago
> if this really means the hunters do eat squirrels on other occasions I don't know if these same people do, but yes, people eat squirrel. I've had it once when a relative served it to us. They lived in a rural area, and they would often hunt for food. I think one Thanksgiving we had wild turkey. Anyway, I'm not aware of a store-bought squirrel option. > How is it chicken-fried? It means you prepare it just like you would prepare fried chicken. In Texas, this means you: (1) dip the pieces in a milk/egg mixture (can be buttermilk), (2) coat them in seasoned flour, then (3) fry them in a skillet on the stove, turning a few times since you're not deep frying. That would have been how it was prepared when I had it.
chasd00 5y ago
When I was about 10 a friend and I killed a squirrel with an air gun. As punishment his mom made him skin it and my mom cooked it and made us eat it. Iirc it tasted sort of like chicken.
- mod 5y ago
  Punishment? When I was about ten I killed my first squirrel, and we cooked it up into a fantastic stew. Many people think squirrel is the best meat in the woods. Nutty.
  - chasd00 5y ago
    i know this is old but just wanted to point out we were explicitly told numerous times do.not.shoot.the.squirrels haha
krrrh 5y ago
I feel like it would be weird to hunt squirrels and not eat them. The thinkin’ man’s chicken. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxyy9oDkRYA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxyy9oDkRYA

forgotmypw17 5y ago

Hawks are not that uncommon in urban land, even Manhattan has a handful hawks. Many tactics for avoiding predators are indeed taught from parent to child. I know it's true for bunnies, so I'd guess squirrels are no different. However, even without any prior training, imagine if you yourself saw a giant bird of prey (bigger than you) coming at you from above, you'd probably do your best to get the heck out of the way, wouldn't you?

zoomablemind 5y ago
What was really amazing is that the squirrel did not run away and up a tree like it does when encountering a dog. Just waved a few inches side to side and just kept very much on the same spot were it was foraging the instant the bird attacked, like another day in the office. Such a badass squirrel indeed!
- clairity 5y ago
  that doesn’t always work. i once hit a squirrel with a football that i was sure it was going to dodge. but after scampering back and forth, it dodged right into the path of the football at the last moment. it didn’t appear to be hurt, and scurried away afterwards, but i still felt really bad about it.
  - a1369209993 5y ago
    > but after scampering back and forth, it dodged right into the path of the football at the last moment. Note that (like many evolved things) squirrel behaviour is designed around a actively adversarial environment. (It may or may not have had a explicit mental model of the process, but from a behavioural perspective) it was likely expecting the football^Wnovel bird of prey to course-correct towards it, in which case lunging in the opposite direction that the attacker just expended effort accellerating toward gives it the best chances of getting away. (Or something along those lines, I don't know enough details to be particularly sure.)
    - clairity 5y ago
      yah, that's kind of what i assumed as well. the squirrel was stunned for a good few seconds, not realizing what had gone wrong with its evolutionarily-inherited strategy, which was a cartoony kind of funny after-the-fact.

throwanem 5y ago

I've had squirrel, though not chicken-fried. It was gamey but not bad, more like rabbit than venison. ("Chicken-fried" just means breaded and fried cutlets of something that isn't chicken. Often served back home with white sausage gravy, and just the thing for supper on a chilly night.) Hawks will take more than squirrels. My mom carries a pistol to let her dog out - he's a Shih Tzu, well within the size range of prey a redtail will stoop on, and it has been a problem before - and her chickens occasionally benefit from a little anti-air fire as well. Urban environments can be well suited to raptors, especially those with a habit of preying on birds. Peregrine falcons nest in a fair number of our structures, one of which is visible from my front porch, and Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks are frequent visitors; while as accipiters these latter favor taking passerines on the wing, they won't shy from taking mammal prey. Squirrels are fast and agile, and big raptors can have a hard time giving chase after a failed stoop, so it isn't as one-sided a contest as it might seem.

giardini 5y ago

zoomablemind says >"I'm trying to understand if this really means the hunters do eat squirrels on other occasions? How is it chicken-fried?"< Most squirrel hunters eat squirrel. Most prepare it like fried chicken. But since most squirrels are smaller than an adult chicken you need more squirrels to make a meal. Squirrel is tastier than chicken. Its more challenging to hunt squirrel than to either harvest or shop for a chicken. Perhaps Popeye's will someday feature "chicken-fried squirrel", making me both fatter and lazier.

zoomablemind 5y ago
If squirrel meat is anything like rabbit's, it is low fat. So the danger may be mostly from the Popeye's added oils. Otherwise I'd be concerned more about "rabbit meat starvation" aka protein poisoning [1]. [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_poisoning https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_poisoning

adrianmonk 5y ago

> if this really means the hunters do eat squirrels on other occasions I don't know if these same people do, but yes, people eat squirrel. I've had it once when a relative served it to us. They lived in a rural area, and they would often hunt for food. I think one Thanksgiving we had wild turkey. Anyway, I'm not aware of a store-bought squirrel option. > How is it chicken-fried? It means you prepare it just like you would prepare fried chicken. In Texas, this means you: (1) dip the pieces in a milk/egg mixture (can be buttermilk), (2) coat them in seasoned flour, then (3) fry them in a skillet on the stove, turning a few times since you're not deep frying. That would have been how it was prepared when I had it.

chasd00 5y ago

When I was about 10 a friend and I killed a squirrel with an air gun. As punishment his mom made him skin it and my mom cooked it and made us eat it. Iirc it tasted sort of like chicken.

mod 5y ago
Punishment? When I was about ten I killed my first squirrel, and we cooked it up into a fantastic stew. Many people think squirrel is the best meat in the woods. Nutty.
- chasd00 5y ago
  i know this is old but just wanted to point out we were explicitly told numerous times do.not.shoot.the.squirrels haha

krrrh 5y ago

I feel like it would be weird to hunt squirrels and not eat them. The thinkin’ man’s chicken. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxyy9oDkRYA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxyy9oDkRYA