I guess it is true. But this is a funny quote:
"'I haven't tried grey squirrel but people I know who have say it tastes like chicken used to taste when it tasted like chicken.'"

they do hate the gray squirrel... but then they hate lots of things in Britain.

They hate gray squirrels because they are Yank squirrels, not surprising. Pay back for the starlings over here.

@obi^2: Well, it has yes, but if you think about it it's a lot less surprising. Lots of top restaurants serve food that is half designed to intrigue, and squirrel is clearly one of those. Moreover, the fact that in his article he shows you a British headline should be enough to show that it is far from standard.
@yaya - "they hate lots of things in Britain" Well, according to 'common knowledge' over here we're a much more forgiving and accepting society than in the US. Where are you from? Do you have some evidence etc to support your claim?
@war - Indeed. The traditional red squirrel is a beautiful little creature, it really is. However, it has been out-competed by the grey squirrel and is now virtually only found on the isle of Anglesey. That said, almost any Brit would choose grey squirrel over no squirrel.

"That said, almost any Brit would choose grey squirrel over no squirrel." in their pancake?

We've got some English Ivy of some sort over here that nobody likes. But you win some and lose some. There are a lot of new world things that I imagine Europe is happy for. Actually I don't really know. Do Europeans each much corn, turkey, and such?

I know we like having horses over here.

I am not aware of anyone having done this.

However, anti-grey squirrel sentiment is high... red squirrels are smaller and cuter.

Obiwan, presuming you are not a zealous what's your concern / problem here? If an animal is not endangered, what is the problem with eating it?

We routinely eat pigs, and they're quite intelligent animals. So why object to eating squirrels? Because they're 'cute?' Some people think that ducks are cute, but we eat them.

Ack, typo: First line should read "presuming you are not a zealous vegetarian/vegan..."

But surely in most countries of the world then any 'living creature' that is not traditionally kept as a pet or revered for religious reasons is fair game so to speak?

BTW, another quote from the link provided by JECE:
""The Americans have numerous recipes for grey squirrel, with the most popular being Brunswick Stew, which is casseroled squirrel."

@ CountessTillian: "But surely in most countries of the world then any 'living creature' that is not traditionally kept as a pet or revered for religious reasons is fair game so to speak?"

Yes, that's pretty much the position I was taking. Why not? Why eat one animal, but not another?

@figlesquidge... I'm American among other labels. The idea that Britain is a more forgiving and accepting society than America is rather dubious. Imho, the only thing that really seperates the two is the UK's lack of a death penalty.

We also have less Christian zealotry and a more balanced approach to issues such as abortion.

From what I understand of America it contains a lot that is very similar to the UK in terms of forgiving and accepting elements of society, and a lot that is far less so. I dare say it also depends a lot on what the thing that must be forgiven or accepted is. A woman who chooses an abortion will be treated a hell of a lot better in the UK than in the US, for example. On the other side of the coin I am friends with a man who went to a university Bad Taste Ball in an SS uniform who has been forced to change his name because of harassment from our "liberal" media.

As far as squirrels go, the claim that red suqirrels are only found in this one location is made by scores of completely seperate locations all over the UK. It has to be the least endangered endagered species on the planet. Also a lot of greys are suspiciously ginger in places suggesting a wee bit of sleeping with the enemy has been going on...

@Jamie99uk... True, but nowhere in America do we allow the church we don't go to on Sunday to dictate who we hate. Northern Ireland seems to have that problem, which I'd consider a form of Christian zealotry. On the flipside Britain seems to have more Islamic zealotry and an electorate that recognizes and will elect BNP politicians. As for abortion, what you call balanced some here would call murderous. The fact there is that the same basic rules apply in both countries; those who oppose abortion here are simply far more vocal.

@figlesquidge Irony is that the gray squirrel in many parts of it's formal native habitat is endangered, and has been replaced by the N American red squirrel.

@yay - Erm, the BNP has never got a seat in parliment, yet Sarah Palin ran for High Office...

When I hear Brits and Americans arguing about things like this, I just imagine pots and kettles (of the old-timey variety) arguing over who is black.

That said, I'm also American. BUT WISCONSINITES ARE A DIFFERENT MATTER ENTIRELY.

Bringing up Sarah Palin is a low blow, sir. A low blow...

@Jamiet99uk:

I'm not nature zealot, I like it but no zealot, I was just curious, seems odd to me... of course everyone has different customs and all that, I get that, we eat things in America folks wouldn't eat in other places, and vice versa...

But the squirrel thing caught my attention because 1. It sounded like a new thing, like it was just the newly-introduced grey squirrels, so I found that intersting and wondering why their new arrival prmpted a feeding-frenzy :p and 2. Because I found the clip funny and I find Craig Ferguson funny, love his show and monologues and all...

So yeah, not a PETA freak or anything, just curious (IS it just the greys and not the indiginous English squirrels? Seems a bit unfair lol... rise up, grey squirrels, fight for your independence from English cooking pots!) :p

@Dave - He started it! :P

@ob - They were introduced aaages ago, by the Victorians who wanted them in their ornamental gardens, but they've 'outcompeted' the native species, which looks nicer.
I can't imagine anyone would eat a red squirrel, and I don't know anywhere that actually serves them. As mentioned above the fact it was in a newspaper should tell you its a rare occurance not commonplace. You don't find headlines saying "Frenchman eats frog!"

@ figlesquidge: To compare Palin and the BNP is so ridiculous it's not possible. Coming fro a die-hard-Brit!

Also, why is so wonderful that we( the U.K) have a leftist elite that make sure the government support abortion( via having it on the NHS)? That must be possibly the worst thing in the entire country- the government pays for people who've done something stupid to "fix-it" by killing their baby.
If some stupid girl wants to kill her kid, let her pay for it!

Sure, but the BNP have been elected to local assemblies more than once in the last 5-10 years. Here in the US we stopped electing active Klansmen decades ago. Palin would be somewhere within the Conservatives (or perhaps UKIP) if she were a Brit, not the BNP.

I know, I wasn't trying to make a direct comparison. My point was firstly that they stand but don't get in and that I expect the US has lots of right-wing nutters who stand but don't get elected. Then, that actually the US has more right wing politicians than we do.
Didn't put it very well though - caught a case of Mirror politics: quick, sensationalist headline!

We can agree there. Tea Party folks are great about being nuts, are their policies aren't great for folks who don't fit their demographic, but by and large they're not out & out racists . I suppose my larger point that rudekker pointed out is that on the whole, the UK & US are nearly even in terms of the broad political & cultural spectrum. The US has the heartland & San Francisco, while the UK has little england and the North.

So should I declare my troll posts over, are do we except the mess above as a natural outgrowth of discussing British cuisine?

I just gotta say that I hate the term "America's Heartland." Hate it hate it hate it. It just makes us all sound like bumpkins. And in the 5 or 6 Great Lakes States (depending if you're counting Minnesota), the only one that regularly votes conservative is Indiana.

And it's not all farms; we have an alpha world city (Chicago, even though Chicago sucks), a lower-tier world city (Minneapolis), world-class universities in Madison, Chicago, Iowa City, Evanston, and Minneapolis. And my town, Milwaukee, has a long history of progressivism, including electing Socialist Party mayors from 1910-1960.

And Columbus. Ohio State is world class too. I guess.

Although I do like a joke I heard from an American who spent a lot of time in England, who describes the British political system to the stereotypical American:

"We've got Labour, who you'd probably call Communists. Then we have the Conservatives, who... you know what, you'd probably call them Communists too."

Sorry rudekker. For what it's worth, I always considered Big 10 country the Midwest, and the Big 12 minus Texas as the heartland.

Also, props for referencing sewer socialism. Most Americans could learn from that example that socialism isn't a dirty word.

I should point out that our Socialist mayors never borrowed a cent, and Milwaukee was routinely recognized as the best-run city in the US with the cleanest government. It wasn't until we got rid of the Socialists that things went downhill.

What is true is that American parties are way more varied, due to there only being 2. It means that the democrats would incorporate labour, most lib-dems and even parties like the Greens and Plaid Cymru and socialist workers.
The republicans would incorporate the conservatives, the right of the lib-dems,UKIP and the DUP( v. similar to what's called evangelical republicans).

The most interesting different between the 2 systems is that there's been no British "re-lineament". The North, far more similar to the American South( poorer, more racial tension), remains firmly left ( labour). Much like the American south until the 60's.
At the same time, the more "intellectual" and richer south remains totally tory, like New England was totally republican for so long.

Speaking of the Tea Party - Am I the only one who read the name and immediately imaged a bunch of nut jobs. Learning what they stand for only reinforces the opinion.

As someone who routinely votes Socialist, there isn't much of a place for Socialist viewpoints in the Democratic Party. Anyone who's considerably left of center votes Democrat because it's the lesser of two evils. The only Social Democrat in the Democratic Party that I can think of is Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who represents Cleveland.

"D-OH"="Democrat from Ohio", not "d'oh," by the way.

And the cities in the Midwest have very high levels of racial tension and disparity. I don't know what it's like Down South, but I believe it's improved a lot. But cities like Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Gary (shudder), etc., have very strong racial divides.

rudekker: You could throw Cincinnati in there.