OK, so I'm an old fart .. that's a given. But, today .... decided to relive some old memories. Not really like the old days ... but, the end result is similar.

I harvested my first tree rate, when I was six. Single shot Remington .22 rimfire. Ever since then, the mere thought of tree rat has made my mouth water. When I was around eight, didn't have to go hunting with my bossy "big brother". Rather, when season commenced, I'd grab my .22, get on my bike and ride to a deserted old one room country school house, locally referred to as "Brush College" as it was surrounded by oak trees. Season always started on the first week of September ... and I looked forward to it, when school began in August. Normally, I'd harvest ten to twelve, some days more, many days less.

Skin 'em and take 'em home. My mother would soak them in salt water, then dredge them in flour laced with black pepper and fry them. That's the way that I've always prepared them.

However, since my days as an Ex-pat ... when I returned to the US, I really have never gone squirrel hunting much. I'm not familiar with this area .. but, I do believe that I have gone after tree rats, for provender, only two or three times. But, one of my properties is overrun with those pesky critters. They'll get to my peach trees and devastate them (between them and raccoons) ... My pear trees are another story ... raccoon destruction Armageddon. Although there are ways of dealing with raccoons, I can't keep up with them. Two years ago, I killed eighty-nine of them ... at my house alone ... and didn't even put a dent on the population. I still kill them for the heck of it.

But, on to memories of youth. Today, I walked into my back yard ... and it's pretty heavily wooded once you get about twenty or thirty yards from the house. I spotted many fox squirrels frolicking about ... So, what the hey. I just grabbed a .17 break barrel air rifle (pellet gun) and started killing the bastids. I have done so, in the past .. just shooting one or two, then throwing their carcasses down my ravine. But, today ... fortune was with me and I popped six of them within seven or eight minutes. So, skinned, cleaned and soaking in salt water as I type.

I've never tried it, but I just may throw them on the grill and see what gives. Squirrel has always been my second favorite game meat, following quail.

So, the skinning brings back many memories. I used the same method that I did as a kid, where you step on the tail, after making the appropriate cuts around the tail ... and pull. I had gotten rusty, as the first two ... the damned tail kept sliding out from under my boot. By number three ... it seemed to come back and it was taking me about two minutes, per squirrel to clean them to perfection.

So, who's up for some tree rat?