Squirrel?

[ajshoots]

After reading Jim's reply about a "squirrel grand slam" in the Weekend Hunt thread below, got me thinking. Here in Ohio, we have fox, red, and grey(also black phase). So, what variety of squirrels reside in your state or local area? Also, what is your preferred squirrel for the table? Though small and not much meat, the reds have the best natural flavor for my palate.

 

[NMshooter]

In Northwest Indiana where I used to live, the prized squirrel we would go after were the Fox squirrels. They are about 1/3 larger than the greys. Unfortunately if the greys appeared they would displace the fox squirrels. I used to hunt a farm down in Morocco, IN to find them.
In the fall, my wife and I would travel up to Traverse City, Michigan and travel the road along Lake Michigan to Mackinaw. The place was loaded with a black phase of squirrel. I don't know what species they were but obviously they were very interesting to see.

 

[pretbek]

In South East Pennsylvania I see exclusively grey squirrel. And I can't legally hunt them with an air rifle. I have never eaten squirrel but I am curious to know what they taste like. 

 

[ajshoots]

The blacks to my knowledge are a color phase of grey. I would assume that it is a recessive gene that can be breed to produce large populations of black squirrels?
There is a small city about 30 miles from me that is nothing but black squirrels. I live on the outer edge of a very small farming town. My backyard is 3 acres of hickory trees surrounded by farm ground. Grey squirrels were everywhere in my backyard as well as in town. For the last few years we see more and more black squirrels. I wonder if eventually my area will be dominated by the blacks instead of greys?
It is rather interesting to watch the interaction between the greys and blacks. Seems like they fight each other during mating seasons, but otherwise interact rather well. Much different than than other breeds of squirrel.

 

[ztirffritz]

In Washington any type of squirrel can be taken with an airgun EXCEPT for the Western Gray Squirrel (S. griseus). Those are protected and can not be hunted. I think that they've been evicted from their habitat by an invasive species. My dad used to hunt squirrels with an airgun in PA, but I'm guessing it was on private property, or he was doing it on the sly. Mom would cook them into spaghetti. Tasted great as I recall.

 

[ajshoots]

"In South East Pennsylvania I see exclusively grey squirrel. And I can’t legally hunt them with an air rifle. I have never eaten squirrel but I am curious to know what they taste like."

Pretbek, since wild rabbit, squirrel and many other wild small game animals are dark meat, they all somewhat share a similar flavor. Flavor does tend to be influenced by diet. I live right in the middle of Ohio farm country that thankfully still has a good number of large woods left that are filled with hardwood fruit/nut bearing trees. Kind of a generic reply, but I think squirrel tastes alot like dark meat chicken. Our red squirrels tend to have a much sweeter flavor than a grey and the fox squirrels have a stronger taste than all the rest.

In my area fox squirrels dominate the large woods or forest areas. This is also were I find most of the larger populations of reds. The greys/blacks tend to be suburban squirrels. They are about the only squirrel you find in our cities, towns, and suburbs. For this reason, greys/blacks tend to be the "pest" squirrels due to the areas they tend to inhabit. As NMshooter spoke of the greys displacing the fox squirrels, we see the same here. Some smaller wood lots that would tend to be fox squirrel territory are solely greys and blacks. It is odd that the larger fox squirrel are easily runout by the greys? There are a number of myths as to why this happens, but I am not 100% sure the scientific reason this happens??

 

[billydjann]

Here in New Yorks State we are allowed to hunt small game with air rifle.
Actually squirrel hunting has always been my favorite....
We have Gray, Fox and Red along with Black...
Black are rare and I see them but never get a good enough shot..... Very Few Fox Squirrel also...
Plenty of Reds, but they are so small, I only shoot at them to get them out of the neighborhood here in town.....
Gray is the squirrel of choice for me at the table....
and also I make my own dog food.... and will grind squirrel up in the grinder (bones and all) and make my dog food...
Dogs seems to like it....... Once in a while I will skin a squirrel and toss the meat to them when I have plenty in freezer.....

 

[Gritz]

Here in Wisconsin we have grey, fox, and red. I hunt whatever there is to hunt. I like bagging big fox squirrels because one squirrel per person can usually make a good meal. Grey squirrels are more fun to hunt. Red squirrels aren't really much and I have only made meals out of them when I've hunted all day and only see dozens of reds and have had no luck with anything else. But I do admit, they taste much different, in my experience. A good 'pine' taste but not something I could eat every day. I have found that the biggest difference in taste and texture is age of the squirrel. When I hunt I tend to take what is given to me but I have noticed a huge difference in how good the squirrel tastes in relation to age and size. Young squirrels might not be as big and heavy but they make up for it in tenderness and ease of preparation. I once shot a skunk squirrel. I call it a skunk squirrel because it was jet black with a few patches of bright white. It was like a bear. Heavy and thick necked. I thought it was the prize of a lifetime. Tasted like road kill though. I should have had it mounted but at the time I was traveling and didn't have the forethought to preserve the hide.
Best squirrel for the table: Young grey or fox. Reds are great but more of a once a year kind of thing.

 

[ncstan]

Here in Eastern NC We have the Gray squirrel and the fox Squirrel.The gray is the smaller of the two weighing on a average of 10 or so ounces .It is mostly gray in color but color mutations are seen .The fox squirrel colors are mostly gray to brindle .Solid blacks and solid white are prized trophies as they are very rare and attractive .Fox squirrels general weigh between 1 1/2 lbs and 2 1/2 lbs .The western part of the state has gray and fox squirrels and also has the red squirrels .Squirrels are a game animals and have late fall into early winter season in Eastern NC .We also have a small population of flying squirrels which are protected and may not be harvested .Stan

 

[greg]

"ztirffritz"In Washington any type of squirrel can be taken with an airgun EXCEPT for the Western Gray Squirrel (S. griseus). Those are protected and can not be hunted.

Small correction, there are 8 species of squirrels in WA, only 3 are legal to take with an airgun (Eastern Gray, Fox, and California Ground) - because they are unclassified and can be taken with anything including slingshots, blowguns, tasers, etc. Otherwise, "hunting" as such is not allowed with an airgun in WA.

From WDFW site: 
> Western gray, Douglas', red, and flying squirrels are all protected species in Washington (WAC 232-12-011). Eastern gray, eastern fox, and California ground squirrels are not protected in Washington and may be hunted any time as long as all firearm restrictions are followed and a hunting license is possessed.

 

[CptMoonlight]

In Oklahoma, we have the red and grey squirrels. We also have some flying squirrels. The greys have pretty much taken over. There are still plenty of reds, but mostly what I see are grey squirrels.

 

[Mentolio]

Just gray here in NJ. Division of Wildlife says there are fox squirrel here too, but I have never seen one. Regarding taste/"meat quality," I agree with Gritz. The bigger/older squirrel have more meat, but the younger/smaller ones are much more tender and tasty. The big guys are often like chewing on shoe leather.