A British wildlife campaign group said grey squirrels should be dished out in restaurants. .“I have eaten grey squirrel before, after skinning and deboning one, and it tastes quite nice — gamey, like rabbit,” Exmoor Squirrel Project Acting Manager Kerrie Hosegood told the Daily Mail. .“It is perfect to leave in the slow cooker and eat in a stew.” .Exmoor Squirrel Project, which seeks to eradicate grey squirrels in Exmoor to replace them with native red squirrels, said the non-native animals could be served up in stews, pies, and kebabs. .Organizers said they were in discussions with two restaurants about serving dishes containing grey squirrel. .Exmoor is encouraging local homeowners and landowners to stop feeding grey squirrels, volunteer to monitor woodland for them, and set traps in gardens or on land to catch them if they have proper training. .Conservationists said red squirrels could become extinct in one decade because of greys. .It is not the first time eating squirrels has hit the news. .Potato chip company Walkers announced in 2009 it would begin selling cajun squirrel flavoured crisps after a competition for the public to suggest new flavours. .Daily Mail revealed in 2010 how a branch of grocery store chain Budgens in North London had begun selling squirrel meat. .Squirrel pie was a popular delicacy served up until the last century when it dropped off United Kingdom menus, but it saw a revival in the 2010s because of attempts to save red squirrels from extinction. .Thousands of grey squirrels were sold to restaurants, butchers, and farmer’s markets after being shot and trapped in woodland and rural areas. .An anti-vegan protestor was filmed eating a dead squirrel in front of shocked bystanders at a vegan market one decade later. .Grey squirrels carry the squirrel pox virus, which is harmless to them but fatal to reds. .While some environmentalists want to keep the two sets of squirrels apart, Exmoor is aiming to eliminate greys and reintroduce reds. .Hosegood said grey squirrels have caused about $65.4 million worth of damages to UK trees. She added it “wants people to help control the grey squirrel, so are offering training.”.“Landowners and homeowners can help tackle the problem of grey squirrels which destroy trees,” she said.
