Squirrel Hunting

**xjosh40x** · 09-29-2014, 05:19 PM

Old folk saying around here that if you harvest a squirrel with "wolves" throw it away. For years I've tossed many squirrels away for the possums. I knew they were parisites that's eggs made their way to burrow beneath the animals skin. I did a little research and found that this is a common myth. The Bot Fly larva is a parasite but doesn't affect the meat. Although my father disagrees with me. Anyone here ever been raised this way or has anyone cleaned and eaten squirrel with these "wolves"

**ElevenBravo** · 09-29-2014, 05:41 PM

Im not an avid hunter, but my friend that has been coaching me in the knowledge department pretty much reflects what you are saying.

EB

**hunter63** · 09-29-2014, 06:00 PM

Never heard of it......that is something new.

OK found this...
http://www.walterreeves.com/gardenin...sites-bot-fly/

**Graf** · 09-29-2014, 06:39 PM

I usally wait for cooler weather before harvesting tree rats, 2 reasons #1 less skeeters,flies,ticks in the woods #2 cold kills alot of sickness and parasites

**xjosh40x** · 09-30-2014, 07:08 AM

Yeah everyone says wait till first frost. But I wanted to know if I was in a survival situation if I could eat a squirrel in warmer season

**MrFixIt** · 09-30-2014, 07:10 AM

Yes, I have heard this all my life.
As far as a survival situation, I would cut out the infected portion (after gutting/skinning), and cook the meat till well done.

**Rick** · 09-30-2014, 07:18 AM

I grew up with the adage of only hunting squirrels in months with an R in it. I've never seen wolves on a squirrel and assume we are too far north for the bot fly. With that in mind, the larva have apparently been eaten by man for centuries. The larva would not infest the whole carcass only that area where it burrowed into the skin. Beside, there are probably a lot more thingies in the squirrel. Cooking should kill any parasites in the meat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botfly

**hayshaker** · 09-30-2014, 08:46 AM

used to have squirrels but the cats got,em all. i miss talk,em out of the trees that was fun.

**kyratshooter** · 09-30-2014, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by Rick

I grew up with the adage of only hunting squirrels in months with an R in it. I've never seen wolves on a squirrel and assume we are too far north for the bot fly. With that in mind, the larva have apparently been eaten by man for centuries. The larva would not infest the whole carcass only that area where it burrowed into the skin. Beside, there are probably a lot more thingies in the squirrel. Cooking should kill any parasites in the meat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botfly

Same here. We only hunted after the first frost and if doing that I never found worms in any I killed as far south as Tennessee. Our season usually closed end of Jan.

I heard a lot about the "wolves" but only from folks hunting as soon as the season opened in August.

When you wait until after the frost arrives you get rid of the parasites and the cold slows down or eliminates the snakes, which in my area share any good squirrel woods.

**Ken** · 09-30-2014, 05:53 PM

Originally Posted by Rick

I grew up with the adage of only hunting squirrels in months with an R in it.

That's wrong. Squirrels should only be hunted in months with a Z in it.

**Sarge47** · 09-30-2014, 06:47 PM

Originally Posted by Ken

That's wrong. Squirrels should only be hunted in months with a Z in it.

Yeah, like Zanuary, Zebuary, Zarch, Zapril, Zay, Junze, Zuly, Auguzt, Zeptember, Zoctober, Novemzer, Zecember!...

**Adventure Wolf** · 10-01-2014, 02:34 AM

The reason to cook meat is to kill the parasites and bacteria within the meat. Once you cook the squirrel, you should be fine.

**xjosh40x** · 10-01-2014, 05:33 AM

I figured it was just a myth. I was pretty sure it just burrowed right under the skin and wouldn't do harm to the meat. Just wanted to make sure before I tried it. In my state they have a off the grid understanding that you can harvest animals outside of season. When I was in law enforcement we ran into guys that were still living like 1850. Made their own liquor, tobacco and did it all.

**Lamewolf** · 10-01-2014, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by hunter63

Never heard of it......that is something new.

OK found this...
http://www.walterreeves.com/gardenin...sites-bot-fly/

You probably call them "warbles" Hunter, and no, they are not really a parasite - just a larva that does not taint the meat. I have read where Indians once kept and ate the larva too when dressing out the squirrels. Anyway, toss them out and eat that rat my friend - its a terrible waste to throw a squirrel away because of a measly little grub worm.

**Tokwan** · 10-01-2014, 08:53 PM

This is a funny thing about squirrels in Malaysia. We have squirrels attacking Durian Orchards...(please google if you do not know what Durians are)...and costing farmers a lot of money. Most durians here of the good quality are very very expensive.
So what do we do with these squirrels? We shoot them. However one needs to wake up early in the morning , around 3 am, and roam the orchards to find them. These are the times the squirrels are most active.
Now the funny thing..its simple to call them out as it looks like now, these squirrels are well educated...hahahaha...all you need is to run the grass cutter 2 or 3 days before doing the hunt...this will attract squirrels from the nearby area and then you can have a field day..I use to do this many years ago and get well paid for them. I could shoot about 60 to 70 squirrels a day...one .22 bullets cost about 7 cents..and for the prized orchards..they would pay USD4per squirrel..(they buy the dead ones)...so this means that I could get about roughly USD 200 for a work done from 3am to 8am....but it is only seasonal as Durians bear fruits twice a year.

**tundrabadger** · 11-09-2014, 05:21 PM

Originally Posted by Lamewolf

You probably call them "warbles" Hunter, and no, they are not really a parasite - just a larva that does not taint the meat. I have read where Indians once kept and ate the larva too when dressing out the squirrels. Anyway, toss them out and eat that rat my friend - its a terrible waste to throw a squirrel away because of a measly little grub worm.

I went to school with kids that ate the botfly larva from caribou. Or at very least brought them to school and made a great show of eating them to freak out teachers and classmates of european heritage. Never ate them myself, but apparently they ward off the scurvy. I have eaten caribou that they came from, though. It was good.