Glis Glis/dormice - hunting/trapping

[Mici]

Hi!
ok..so some say this is unique for our country but other sources tell me this cute little rodents can be found all over Europe. don't really know about the US.
after seeing a few festive partyes thrown in favour of the little critter and constantly hearing about how good the dormice stew is...hey, gotta try it :-D really, i have not heard a single man say "phew, bleh, ugh disgousting, i'll never eat it again".
also, they are valued for their "magic" grease. i have heard someone cured throat cancer, another one had a throu and throu wound on his cheek-doesn't even have a scar.
and at the end, their fur is soooooo cute, unfortunatelly you need (i think) around 40 to make yourself a furry hat.

anyway, caught my first this night :-D

[BMAC]

They were considered a delicacy in ancient Rome, either as a savoury appetizer or as a dessert (dipped in honey and poppy seeds). The Romans had a special kind of terracotta jar known as gliraria used to rear dormice for the table.

The above was stolen from wikipedia.com

[Scadsobees]

Caught a couple of deermice.  Probably not the same, and a couple of dead mice made me feel better of all the damage that they did...

I'll take your word for it on all of the uses.  I'd imagine that you'd need a lot of them to make a decent hat.  Not to mention a lot of thread.  I wouldn't want to have to pick the meat off those tiny bones.

Mice excluders have been applied....

Rick

[Mici]

still are;) (a delicacy)
ummm i think you need 40-50 hides to make a hat.
iit's not the meat that's all that important, the taste it gives to the stew is what counts.

[asprince]

Do they taste like chicken?

Steve

[Mici]

hmm i don't know but i'd say definitly NO, i'll tell you later, when i catch a few more, so it'll be worth cookin'

[pdmattox]

Do they taste like chicken?

Steve

don't all unknown meats taste like chicken?  :-D

[TwT]

heck I had to look it up to see what yaw was talking about, seems to be a small squirrel, http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th1l.htm

I like squirrel, dont eat eat much anymore but smoked and then grilled aint bad at all...... soak it in vinegar and water to get the wild taste out before smoking  :evil:

[Mici]

huraaa, caught one more this night!

if they tasted like chicken, NO ONE would bother setting traps and even skinning these little crits. sooo much work  for sooo little meat so the taste must be....at least heavenly

ummm although they look much like squirell, i've read that they are in fact not all that closely related. few differences:
-they hibernate through winter
-they can actually do longer jumps
-they live underground
-don't eat the hard nuts, don't have the power-tools to crack 'em

[BMAC]

Yeah but MICI dont they both fall in the rodent category....

Tree rats are pretty tasty.  I like to grill em with some BBQ sauce on em after I do a quick 15 minute boil in seasonings.

Hmmmmmmm.

Them door mice seem to be aweful small for sure.

[Mici]

oh yeah, rodents for sure. it's just that people usually think dormice are just a subspecie of squirls, when in fact, let say..squirels and rats are closer relatives. now i'm not sure if it's true, but that's how i get it.

they are small, when we skinned our first one, i dressed my whooole thumb with it's hide :-D

[Brian D. Bray]

Certain types of critters it's best to just harvest the part with the most meat and discard the rest. 
Frogs: very light & tasty meat, skin the legs and discard everything else.
Squirrels:  Only real meat is in the legs and loins (lower back), skin and discard the remainder.
Pigeons, Quail, & other small birds:  Just take the breasts, hearts, & gizzards and discard everything else.  You don't even have to pluck them, just cut the meaty portions out and skin them.  Black birds are small; that's why it took 4 and 20 to make a pie.
Sea Cucumbers:  Just use the ring mussels and discard the rest.
and the list goes on....

If Turkeys had breasts the same size as racing pigeons for their overall size they would have twice the meat they have now.

Also there is how you fix it.  The sculpin, a fish that eats crabs, will taste like crab if you steam it but like fish if you fry or bake it.  Skate wings, if steamed, taste like scallops.  Butter clams, if eaten raw, taste buttery--hence the name.