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Originally Posted by RLacey
Well, they wiped out most of the red squirrels in the UK a long time ago, and they're being increasingly spotted on mainland Europe.
It's a good thing that red squirrels are still selectively advantaged in certain types of woodland  . |
http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/m...1lxtw7h0lm.pdf
http://journals.cambridge.org/downlo...95fd739ff44a29
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Originally Posted by Roberto
I would guess that squirrels are fairly disease infested, as well as hard to catch. And, given that they're just rats with bush tails, are you sure you want to eat one?
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Active parapox infections can be transmitted if the squirrel is handled (the same thing happens in Sheep with Orf (another Parapox virus). This disease has a much higher morbidity and mortality in red squirrels however. They are also resevoirs for the Lyme disease bacteria (
Borrelia burgdorferi). A tick can pick up on feeding thus increasing the chance of transmission to people.
I think if the squirrel were fully cooked, these diseases wouldn't have a big impact.
