Comments on: Brits Take Up Skillets in War Against Squirrels

By: Hugh

Hugh — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 02:15:23 +0000

Grilled brown tree snake - brilliant! The brown tree snake is an ecological disaster neatly wrapped up in a single long, slender, poisonous Australian serpent. Possibly the best known example of devastation by introduced species, it singlehandedly ate something like 80 percent of the unique native birdlife of Guam. It's now so numerous on the island that it routinely causes power outages when it runs out of trees to climb and starts investigating power transformers. Good one, Helen! Oh, and snakefish would be a good candidate, too, wouldn't it?

By: Swiftlet Farming Proves Good for Business... Maybe Too Good | Food & Think

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:14:45 +0000

[...] swiftlets are not an invasive species we can proudly devour. To the contrary, growing demand from a prosperous China is compromising the birds’ ability [...]

By: Helen

Helen — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:34:53 +0000

I’ve never had squirrel, but horse sashimi was a local specialty in the town where I lived in Japan. It was…ok. Chewy. Not great. I’d prefer some nice grilled brown tree snake.

By: The Veteran Naturalist

The Veteran Naturalist — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 01:37:37 +0000

The state of Louisiana some years ago launched a program promoting the consumption of nutria. Nutria had become a pest in the ricefields. The campaign was not notably successful despite the participation of some well-known New Orleans chefs. Probably because nutria look like giant drowned rats.

By: Melissande

Melissande — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:11:21 +0000

Hmmm…wild boar anyone?

invasivespeciesinfo.gov/animals/wildboar.shtml

By: Matt Wright

Matt Wright — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:15:50 +0000

Hey Hugh – I think this might be my first comment on any of your blogs. Far too long in coming!

The latest issue of Wholphin, a DVD “magazine” of rare/underground films, includes a piece on the Red vs. Gray battle royale titled “Nutkin’s Last Stand”: http://www.wholphindvd.com/

Not to be a wet blanket here, but I wonder if creating a demand for invasives as gourmet items could be counterproductive? Imagine if Gray squirrels became so hot that folks in the UK (at least those with more free time than good sense) decided to try breeding them for profit?