Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Monday, August 21, 2006
Is There a Tomato in That Tree?
When last I wrote, I was headed to the farmers' market to buy tomatoes. When I returned from the market, there was a half-eaten tomato on the neighbors' fence. The squirrels must have had their fill, but they came back for it before I could get a photo.
Yesterday morning, there was another half-eaten tomato on the fence. I took a picture of this one. Then I left it there to see what would happen. Late in the afternoon, the squirrels were back and the tomato had disappeared. There were 2 squirrels this time, chasing each other and generally acting squirrely. I wasn't paying that much attention. Then a flash of red caught my eye as it was moving up the trunk of a tree. A squirrel had one of the ripest, nicest tomatoes of the lot and was carrying it to some pleasant picnic spot. Squirrel 'A' just settled down to enjoy its dinner, when Squirrel 'B' thought 'A' should share. The tomato fell from the tree during the discussion and that was that.
10 Comments:
I'd just like to say a universal and collective:
AAAUGH!!!
(in the style of Charlie Brown).
Rotten little varmits! I've been following your posts. Can't believe you got such great shots of them in action. Sorry about the tomatoes.
My Mom is having the same problem, but being from a midwestern farm, she's seriously considering frying the squirrels up for breakfast. :-)
C.C., thanks for the sympathy. I broke down and picked some tomatoes before they were ripe, just so I'd get to eat a few of them. They were still good, thankfully.
Squirrel for breakfast is tempting; know any good recipes? And maybe some fried green tomatoes on the side? :-)
Actually, Mom does have some recipes. Probably would go great with fried green tomatoes (as that dish is popular in the Ozarks, too).
If you're serious, email me. The old "Joy of Cooking" (before the anniversary new edition) actually had instructions on how to skin the little varmits. I think that's what puts me off. Otherwise, I'd be enjoying them with coffee gravy. (he he.....)
C.C., I'm kidding about the squirrel recipes, I think. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I am kidding. If I had to hunt to eat, I'd probably starve ;-) And Omigosh! I just now looked up the skinning instructions in the 1964 Joy of Cooking. I don't know how I missed that section before, but it even says that "gray squirrels are the preferred ones". I agree that the illustrations are more than a little off-putting.
Fried green tomatoes are a completely different matter though. I really like them, and I never even tasted them until about a year ago. Then I couldn't get enough!
Apparently we all have fantasies about cooking squirrels, but would anyone actually dare eat them now? Well, maybe it would be okay, as long as you don't eat their heads and get Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease from the brains!
I've been wondering why squirrels are so infuriating - maybe it's the way they can't stick to just one fruit or nut or sunflower head and finish it, but must put one bite in each one, destroying the whole garden. Dang tree rats!
Annie
Lemme see - gotta check those skinning instructions again. Nah, I couldn't do it.
Every time I read one of those news stories - mad cow, mercury in fish, hog farm manure lagoons, chicken farm runoff pollution, and on and on and on - I think I should be a vegetarian. Then I go roast a chicken. No resolve whatsoever.
"Tree rats" is so apt. I think if squirrels didn't have those bushy tails, we'd be calling in the exterminators to get rid of the rodents. And as I once read on some bird list: "With all the oak trees around here, why can't the squirrels make an honest living?"
I agree! Eat an acorn already! But one bite of my precious fruits and then off to the very next one! Have you no pity?
I'm also glad to see someone else calls them tree rats. Cuteus bushitalis tree rats.....
I've lost a few cherry tomatoes to the squrrels as well - but is is the strawberries (Ozark ever-bearing variety) that they steal that really rankles!
The squirrels here have moved on to acorns, I'm happy to report. I guess the acorns just weren't ripe enough earlier. Now the ground under the oak trees is thick with acorn shells, and I haven't had a tomato disappear for quite a while.
So sorry to hear the little beasts are stealing strawberries! I wonder if there is anything they won't eat.
Ah yes, those squirrels can be annoying and entertaining. We have lots visiting our garden and we just love to watch the antics they get up to.
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