Dont eat squirrel brains ....
Small Game
Hmmmm, wow, scary... I heard of people cooking and eating squirrel brains, but wouldn't ja think they'd be cook hot enough to kill the disease? If Mad Cow and CWD can infect humans from just eating the meat/flesh you think we'd hear more about CJD after eating squirrel meat and not necessarily the brains...
Here's a quote though -"Squirrel-brain transmission of the disease is not a new concern. Doctors in Kentucky put out a warning against eating squirrel brains in 1997 after 11 people were diagnosed in the state with the non-variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, according to the New York Times. “‘All of them were squirrel-brain eaters,’‘ a doctor told the paper at the time.
Read more here: https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/nation-world/national/article220151245.html#storylink=cpy"
Does not sound appetizing! Brains kinda freak me out. Guess I'm safe
I read that story too....what is the idea behind eating the brains of ANY animal.
If you’ve never seen your grandmother take a shell cracker to a squirrel head you haven’t lived.Just add eggs.
Just talked with a guy yesterday that him and his daughters shoot squirrels and give them to a older lady, after they skin them including skinning out the head and leaving it intact. First time I ever heard of this and then this message.
Andrew Zimmerman host of tv show Bizarre Food "if it looks good eat it",,,, what that guy has consumed all over the world you have to wonder why he is standing
Never have done it but Genesis is correct. Squirrel brains is a rural delicacy.
My mom used to make us calfs brains for breakfast with eggs back in the 60's...
Fuzzy.....you still out there?!! You used to talk about eating squirrel brains all the time....
I have a buddy who grew up eating them. Another buddy's family had big "chicken feet" family gatherings.
Crikey, it seems he didn't have enough of his own if he's eating theirs. Just ask Indiana Jones how he feels about monkey brains. He's smart. I don't see the draw. Maybe I'm just not 'wild' enough, or maybe we were not as poor as I always thought we were. No one in my family of hunters ever came up with the idea of eating anythings's brains. One guy, a good friend of my Dad's though, was a mink rancher, and he used to eat and serve up 'sweet meats'. (I never had the luxury of being his dinner guest for those fortunately). My uncle however, according to 'legend', was treated to them, and after he ate them, he asked what it was. When he heard what it was, he blew chunks all over the kitchen floor. LOL! Heck, if so many old folks ate them, there must have been some appeal. Maybe they taste like chicken...I'll never know.
Take a look at how hot you have to get the prions in order to destroy them. Up to 1100 degrees! Forget cooking it out if the tissue.
Lee
Unreal!
The game comission document on cwd I was reviewing yesterday is stating that cwd has been shown to effect primates after direct feeding of cwd infected meats...
Cwd sucks..
Lymphatic tissue should not be consumed either. Right now hunters are grinding many of the lymph nodes and lymphatic vessels into sausage, burger, slim Jims etc. And for sure lymphatics are consumed with every squirrel meal. Certain lymph nodes are between the upper limb musculature, potentially very serious. CWD is a bad one and untested certain wild meat should not be consumed, or fed to unsuspecting individuals such as children.
I think those diseases have most likely been around a long time but have only been widely detected and diagnosed in the last 20 years or so.
More than 30 years ago a well known travel agent in the town my brother lives in developed severe mental problems and then died... they backtracked and reached the conclusion that his problems more than likely originated from a delicacy he ate in the country he was visiting = monkey brains! We had not heard of CWD or Mad Cow disease back then.
A Cree favorite here (especially for children) is sucking the brains out of boiled snowshoe hare heads (my wife liked to do that).
I eat some stuff most non-natives wouldn't eat... but I don't eat brains.
From now on, I'll take calling me 'brainless' as a compliment!!!
Nodes, brains, feces. Same food group IMO
Don't have to tell me twice. Don't even have to tell me once.i would rather eat balls than brains and i wouldn't eat them if you beat me. If i am down to nothing but brains to eat,well then i guess it's time to go kill something.
It will also make you want to climb trees and pay with your nuts. In short, I don't eat brains of any kind.
Nope...not me! Call me what you want, but I ain't eating "oysters", brains, or anything else that....well....you know....lol.
I don't know if this was ever legitimized by the scientific community, but an anthropologist who was studding the primitive tribes of IIRC New Guinea and other primitive cultures that practice a form of cannibalism called funerary cannibalism where they have a ceremony when someone dies that involves eating the deceased. During his time with these tribes he discovered the oldest members of these tribes suffering from a disease that the symptoms of he would later discover mirrored those of mad cow disease in humans. It is very wildly rumored the beef industry because they fear MCD can be transmitted to humans they no longer grind up dead cows and use them as cattle feed as they fear massive future law suits like the ones that ravaged the tobacco industry. As there is evidence MCD disease is cause by animals eating the brains of their own species, and there fore can be transmitted to those who then eat the brains of the infected animals, be they cattle, squirrels or people.
Ya I wasn't even remotely in danger on this one...I still haven't eaten one of those tree rats to begin with. Why not just eat mice and gerbels too.
I would never have guessed that eating squirrel brains was a thing.
Ah man, don't start on the gerbel thing...8^)))
how many people die a year from eating bad meat (beef, chicken) anything can kill u. Im not eating brains , but if you start worrying about everything you might as well stay in and drink water Oh ..wait a minute
Fried squirrel is one of my most favorite wild game meals. From the time I was old enough to carry a gun until well into my 40's, I don't think I ever missed an opening weekend of squirrel season.
I'll pass on the brains, tho.
Squirrel is a fine meal. No doubt one of my favorites. Bud, I never have nor, do I ever intend to eat the brains of anything.
Growing up rural, there was 3-4 of us always hunting something. When we’d get together and kill a bunch of squirrels, our one buddy would always take the heads we cut off, back hone to his mom.
This is an old tradition. But, some people are taking the new craze to far. Eating human placenta, brains of animals, etc.
'Eating human placenta' ??? Huh??? I have seen packages with the word 'placenta' on them used for some kind of washing or cleansing agent for skin (not sure what the benefit is), but eating it? F'ing weird man. I'd rather eat at McDonalds!!!
Never eaten placenta but the box it came in wasn't too bad. :-)
I think we're missing the point here. Eating brains is one thing, but a prion jumping a species is an entirely different and more serious subject. These prions are present in more than just the brains, so if they can jump from squirrel to human, how long until they jump from cervids to humans? I really never took the CWD thing very serious, until now.
Brain tanners are even getting nervous about using wild game brains in their fat liquoring....a lot of them use domestic pig brains.
DMTJager - I saw a documentary to that effect... and I forget the time elapsed from the time of death but their relative's brains are not eaten immediately (not fresh, LOL!).
I would have probably tried some of those traditional southern squirrel brain dishes if this hadn't of come up.
DMT- It's been fairly well characterized in the Fore tribe, the disease you're talking about is called Kuru.
DMT- Right on and well publicized in some circles for quite some time. Even a school of thought that is where CWD started.
My Mom's Grandmother lived with the family when Mom was a kid. Mom told me that whenever her Dad killed squirrels, Grandma would fry the brains and eat them. Mom said they turn white when cooked. I've never forgotten that mental image of white squirrel brains sizzling in an old cast iron skillet. Personally, I'll pass.
LMAO! I must be the only one who saw midwest's post! Kudo's to you sir! Well played! ;-D
Midwest, NOW THAT IS LMFAO FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hahahaha Midwest, good one.
As Genesis noted, brains and eggs were common in the old days. The brain used to be my favorite part of a fox squirrel. I'd crack that skull with the handle of a kitchen knife and go to work. I haven't done that in 60 years though, and don't expect to ever again. At some point, it just didn't appeal anymore.
Midwest . . . Oh man I’m stealing that one!!!!
I'll never forget one of the first times my then girlfriend now my wife stayed overnight and my mom cooked up brains and eggs for breakfast. She thought they were great but then got a little queasy after she found out what she'd eaten.
I haven't seen brains for sale in grocery stores for many years now.
Only someone with half a brain would eat squirrel brains.
if all the people with dementia and alzheimers and other brain diseases were really looked at closely how many might actually have CJD ?
I think its much more "common" than is known
CWD confirmed in a deer in the UP of Michigan, Dickinson county. First in the UP.
interesting point Stealthy...and scary
Box...I thought it was a taco.
Good one Midwest...8^)))
Franklin - Yeah, wonder about brain tanning too...
stealthycat - Dementia and Alzheimers came to my mind too (no pun intended)...
I think the life expectancy is different with Alzheimer’s and dementia versus a prion disease
You pretty much need a couple dozen squirrels to get a forkful don't ya?
Nick.....wouldn’t that be the box that it came OUT of?
"I think we're missing the point here. Eating brains is one thing, but a prion jumping a species is an entirely different and more serious subject. These prions are present in more than just the brains, so if they can jump from squirrel to human, how long until they jump from cervids to humans? I really never took the CWD thing very serious, until now."
I've been reading and researching CWD since the facility in Colorado released their findings. Sadly, it has made its way to many of the midwest states and was confirmed around a game farm not 5 miles from our former home in the past decade. Now Michigan has CWD zones and modified hunting regulations. Yet still there are some who dismiss the evidence and claim it is a hoax made up by the DNR under the influence of the Farm Bureau and auto industry.
My concern is not just the deer herd and future of hunting, but also the widening effects of CWD. Researchers have been cautious in liking the spread of prions across the so called "interspecies barrier", as was proven in England in the 1990's with BSE in cattle. However hunters and processors are cautioned to stay away from the brain, spinal column and lymph nodes when reducing a deer to venison. As noted, the temperatures required to destroy CWD prions is double what a typcial oven will reach and those prions can lay dormant in the soil indefinitely.
I've never knowingly eaten the brain of anything, but have read of the tribes that practiced canabalism developing issues with vCJD. This is a situation where you learn as much as you can and apply it wisely for your own safety......or ignore the risks and take your chances. One thing is for certain......CWD is a REAL threat and needs to be taken deadly serious.
Pretty sure this is a no brainer for me.....
No Mercy -
Variant form(s) of CJD in humans from eating squirrel brains is nothing new, it's been described in people from Kentucky for over 20 years.
Hunters keep dismissing CWD as nothing new, so it must be ok. The biggest concern is that it is being found with increasing frequency, mostly due to increased testing of course. But what if, just what if, it is actually spreading to cervids with an increased frequency, that should be a concern? For a multitude of reasons, never dismiss the impact of this disease on society, wild meat consumption, and the future of cervid hunting. Compared to what is potentially coming, we have not seen anything yet.
I wasn't implying everything is ok, just that this isn't the first case of human disease linked to squirrel brain consumption. I think your concern for the future impact that this/these disease(s) may have on the future of hunting, the public, wild meat consumption, etc... are very valid.
There's been no evidence of of the disease spreading with increased frequency necessarily, although there has been a definitive geographic spread taking increased testing into consideration. That is, there are positive animals where there previously was not, with a constant rate (or close to) of testing. This muddies the water somewhat, because of course you're going to have increased frequency of transmission in a new area because previously the disease was not there to even be transmitted.
Good information cervus, thank you. I was not replying to your specific post, but rather the host of others who downplay CWD. I think we need to take CWD seriously and support attempts to better understand the situation, and perhaps curb the spread.
Agreed Missouri Breaks-so little is known about this and the potential could be disastrous for the future of hunting, and eating our favorite game, in so many ways.
Can't even imagine being hungry enough to think frying up some squirrel brains would be a good idea.
stagetek - Don't think its about hunger, I think these hillbillies consider them a delicacy...
When I was a kid we would fry up cow brains when we butchered forty years later my dad died from CJD only lasted three weeks from unset of symptoms he was 76 but it was a long three weeks Had surgery for broken hip two days before they knew what he had they had to go through everything and throw away out of the surgery involved. They dont know if the cattle brains had anything to do with it or not .
Don’t eat squirrel brains. I am surprised that people have to be told that. I don’t eat any rodents.
I just don’t get why ANYONE would want to eat brains from any critter unless they were starving.
We never ate squirrel brains growing up although we ate a lot of squirrel. I did eat pork brains twice, once when I fixed it just to see what it was like and once when a friend fixed it. I didn't think it had much taste so I never bothered with it any more.
How many here that are calling eating brains nasty etc will eat liver, heart, sweet meats, sausage (natural casings), and so on? A lot of it is in our perceptions. ;)
Thx JTV for posting.....
I've read a bunch on CWD and Prions as I'm sure many of you have too....stating transmission to humans from game animals is unknown/ extremely rare if at all.
Did you notice the date the guy died? Back in 2015
Until this thread popped up, it had never occurred to me to eat squirrels or their brains.
I grew up on a farm where we had cattle, hogs, sheep, chickens. Butchered every fall. Raised everything we ate. We ate beef brains, beef tongue, heart, liver. I grew up hunting squirrels and rabbits. There weren't enough deer around to hunt then. I loved eating the squirrel brains. Ummm good. It's all about your perception since I know a bunch of people who turn their nose up at eating deer backstrap
Oh man I used to get my azzz busted if I didn’t keep the brains out my squirrels as a kid... papaw take a but cracker to them .. I’ve eat a ton of them but I guess that was before the CWD days...
Okay you twisted my arm. I WILL NOT eat squirrel brains... LMAO
Ate squirrel and rabbit every Friday night. Mom worked so Dad would put a bunch of squirrel and rabbit "quarters" on a cookie sheet with a drizzle of olive oil and slow roast them in the oven. Sauté a jar of vinegar peppers in the skillet and a loaf of Italian bread......uuuuummmmm. We ate like kings! No brains though!!
Ate squirrel and rabbit every Friday night. Mom worked so Dad would put a bunch of squirrel and rabbit "quarters" on a cookie sheet with a drizzle of olive oil and slow roast them in the oven. Sauté a jar of vinegar peppers in the skillet and a loaf of Italian bread......uuuuummmmm. We ate like kings! No brains though!!
Ate loads of squirrels & rabbits growing up....but never their brains. I won't be starting anytime soon either.
