Don't laugh. Eating suburban squirrels?

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Tallbald

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Gray squirrels are decimating the black walnuts I have out to dry under a screen frame. Little beggars have learned to move the screen and get the nuts, choosing to eat them right on my patio and littering the hulls everywhere. Hey. I grew up small game hunting, and my share of whitetail. I haven't had fresh squirrel in years. I do have a pellet rifle and am darn fine with it here in town. One neighbor two doors down though feeds them then gets angry at her big cat for killing them, despite the lady being told to not leave peanuts out for the little tree rats, so I didn't bother asking her if she cares.Neighbors say "have at 'em Don", and it's legal on my on property
Now this: Reckon it's safe to eat suburban squirrel what with weed killers and fertilizers city folks use? Don
 
Check you'r regs.
If you are in city limits it can be a felony to soot a pellet rifle or BB gun.
Some places it is and this can include a bow and arrow. Trapping can be forbidden to.
I'd look it up or move I live out side of town.
 
Nothing bad happened to me and my housemates, back a number of years ago when I demonstrated the quiet efficacy of a long-barrelled .22 rifle and CB Caps on tree rats. We ate some pretty good suppers. :)
 
As to regs, I'm in an annexed area (city police/fire, county schools). Don't care bout no goldang rules....they's a eatin my food!. And things can be a little more forgiving here in the south too. Nobody seems to care if I test fire new handguns down into our garden (another area the squirrels decimate each season).My only concern is cleanliness of the meat. I won't eat suburban rabbits because they eat treated grass, but I'm not sure about tree dwellers. Don
 
They should be fine. They mainly eat nuts, seeds, bark, new shoots etc.. oh, and especially walnuts.. I've got one out back.
 
I have a scoped Webley Stingray .22 pellet rifle. A hard hitter, it punctures a tin (not just aluminum) can at 20 yards and shoots groups of 5 covered with a dime. Not being nasty or graphic, but just as a for instance, it will remove the back side of a rabbits head at 20 paces. I have no doubt about a clean kill.
Traps are pricey (except rat traps) and I still have to kill them to eat them. I'd rather use what I have on hand if I can. Potatoes, carrots, beef stew seasoning,bay leaf, butter, biscuit mix, etc etc. Don
 
Gray squirrels are decimating the black walnuts I have out to dry under a screen frame. Little beggars have learned to move the screen and get the nuts, choosing to eat them right on my patio and littering the hulls everywhere. Hey. I grew up small game hunting, and my share of whitetail. I haven't had fresh squirrel in years. I do have a pellet rifle and am darn fine with it here in town. One neighbor two doors down though feeds them then gets angry at her big cat for killing them, despite the lady being told to not leave peanuts out for the little tree rats, so I didn't bother asking her if she cares.Neighbors say "have at 'em Don", and it's legal on my on property
Now this: Reckon it's safe to eat suburban squirrel what with weed killers and fertilizers city folks use? Don
If you think the neighbor lady gets pissed at her cat, wait until she sees you with a gun in one hand a a squirrel in the other.
 
I know a guy who lives within Detroit, MI city limits. He shoots squirrels with 22 shorts and never gives the matter a second thought.

Chunky squirrel gravy served over biscuits is a genuine treat!

TR
 
Detriot police usually only come to pick up bodies.
My sister still lives in Detriot---she called the police for a burglary at her home.
They told her to come to the station to complain.
It really is a GRATE city. You just don't want to live there.
 
I say go for it. Many a squirrel both city and country has graced my table and I I I I'm ok.

Nothin like a mess of fried tree rats and gravy.
 
A buddy who lives in a town of 6500 people has three pecan trees in his back yard and one year did not get a single pecan from his trees due to squirrels.

In the next six months he shot 63 squirrels with .22 CB caps and a long barreled Winchester single shot. The neighbors were none the wiser.

Every one of them got consumed with no ill effects.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
Thanks to everybody that responded. The lady down the street who feeds the dang things and yells at her cat for killing them won't say anything because my wife will verbally set her straight in short order. Nobody messes with my girl, and when she's around, nobody messes with me. My baby is little, but is like a bumble bee if you dare hassle her or her flock. She once called 911 while on the road and followed a dangerous driver at the dispatcher's request until several police cars could converge on the offender. Thank goodness she's on my side........... Don
 
I assume you don't eat fast food or pre-processed stuff like frozen breakfast sausages.... Cause those probably have more and worse stuff in them.
 
Live trap a red squirrel and turn it loose in yer yard.(they are a grey squirrels worst enemy )
It'll kill and or run all the greys out in short order then in a few weeks shoot the red.
 
tie a few rat traps to the tree trunks as well. bait them with peanut butter. Then use the air gun to get the ones that are easy pickin. That way, you can get them 24 hrs a day! You'll be armpit deep in squirrel meat in no time!
 
I have to say, Certaindeaf's squirrel-apult is the only logical option here. If you launch all of your squirrels into the neighbor woman's yard, you can defend your walnuts, she can have all the squirrels she wants, and her cat won't go hungry.... everybody wins.
 
The rat traps are a great idea and won't risk getting you in trouble. My neighbor and I are the pest removers in my neighborhood and the rest of the neighbors quietly approve. We have zapped the squirrels, rabbits, and the occasional possum. As a result we have healthy landscaping and lots of birds. Occasionally a deer will wander in and eat some plants, but I'll live with that. Been tempted to snuff a coyote with my .223, but that would REALLY get me in trouble, even if he runs off with a cat. The squirrels are tasty.
 
Rat traps... the old trick I learned is to take a whole walnut, and drill a hole through it. Wire it to the pan of the rat trap (you may have to play with the trigger a bit to get it to hold the weight of the walnut). Squirrels can't resist their favorite food, and WHAM... dead squirrel. Nearly 100% effective.
 
I've dropped a few city squirrels with the cheapo 40 dollar wal mart pellet gun back in college. I just picked out the one in the cheap range than shot the highest fps, 700 something. Worked fine, just had to do it covertly through the blinds with the window open. Then calmly walked out and picked up the squirrels. Don't display the gun publicly and you should be fine.
I guess you could also try the large rat traps with nuts or peanut butter to get them.
 
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