Big demand for squirrel meat (From The Northern Echo)

Big demand for squirrel meat

10:48am Monday 12th May 2008 in

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A BUTCHER is struggling to keep up with demand for squirrel meat as shoppers see it as an ethical choice.

David Ridley, who runs Ridley's Fish and Game shop in Corbridge, Northumberland, said he has sold 1,000 grey squirrels at £3.50 each since he first started selling the meat at the beginning of this year.

He said: "I wasn't sure at first and wondered how many people would really eat it. Now I take every squirrel I can get my hands on.

"I've had days when I've managed to get 60 of them and they sell straight away.

"Squirrel meat is moist and sweet because it's diet has been berries and nuts."

The meat, which is said to taste like a cross between lamb and duck, is also low in fat.

It is also low in food miles and completely free range, making it an ideal choice for ethical shoppers.

Mr Ridley added: "Another reason people buy the grey squirrels is because the red squirrel is endangered.

"Eat a grey and save a red, that is the message."

The grey squirrel, introduced into this country from North America, in 1870, currently outnumber the native red squirrels by 66 to one.

The reds - weaker than the greys, which also carry the squirrelpox virus - are confined to Scotland, Cumbria, Northumberland, the ISle of Wight and islands in Poole Harbour.