In praise of squirrels
By Ron Schara
Shoppers at Mall of America on Sept. 14 may outnumber squirrel hunters with fewer than 30,000 in the woods.
According to DNR hunter surveys, the number of squirrel hunters in the state has declined by 30 to 40 percent during the last 15 years.
Chances are, the percentage drop in squirrel hunters over the last 50 years is higher still. This is Minnesota, this is America, in the 21st Century.
As with fading farm towns, the slow decline in squirrel hunting has no evil-doers.
Just changing times.
A small-town kid with a .22 rifle and woods to hunt has been replaced by a city kid with a different view of firearms and no knowledge of squirrel hunting. The squirrels haven't changed much.
The state's fox and gray squirrel populations — the season runs through Feb. 28 for both species — are stable and secure as long as oaks forests stand and acorns fall.
| In my boyhood home, a Sunday dinner of squirrel was as common as chicken. Mother would roll the squirrel parts in seasoned flour, brown in high heat and then simmer in a squirrel gravy until done. | ||
No, we've changed. Fried squirrel always has been delicious but fewer of us know that today. Instead, we're surprised "those tree rats" are even eatable.
Long forgotten is the role squirrels played in feeding west-bound pioneers.
In my boyhood home, a Sunday dinner of squirrel was as common as chicken. Mother would roll the squirrel parts in seasoned flour, brown in high heat and then simmer in a squirrel gravy until done.
Only the legs of old squirrels required extended gnawing. I was introduced to squirrel hunting by my father.
We were together when, my heart racing, I took aim and killed my game animal.
Dad used the moment to teach me how to clean and care for the meat.
He also used the experience to pass on the responsibilities of a squirrel hunter:
Those lessons are still out there waiting to be discovered in a squirrel woods, although many parents today don't want their kids to handle guns or go hunting.
As society moves farther from the squirrel woods, it's only natural that more parents decide .22 rifles and squirrel hunting is out of the question. You'll get no argument from me.
Parents must do what they think is right for their child.
As an aging squirrel hunter, all I ask of today's parents is to keep an open mind.
For example, that Iowa woodlands where my father and I hunted is now a plowed field of corn.
When you and the kids go hunting for food at your local supermarket, keep in mind, the box of Cornflakes you so easily bagged probably wiped out my squirrel woods.
July through September 2002, Ron Schara's "Backroads with Ron & Raven" airs Sundays on ESPN2 at 8 a.m. ET. He also appears in a short feature Saturdays on ESPN2 at 7:55 a.m. ET. Click here to view this week's show descriptions.
