I would say hunted as needed (I’d assume hunters would go after bigger game before squirrels). I’ve never heard of farmed squirrels.
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Well, when you put it that way… 
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Looks like it’s getting hot.
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Loving these stories!
We hunted on my Uncle’s farm just north of Houston in my teens and 20’s and if something moved we shot it and if we shot it we ate it including squirrel.
Now I never ate squirrel but my Grandmother would chicken fry it and my Brother would wolf it down being careful about shotgun pellets just like the dove and quail we ate.
There was one squirrel that was off limits the one my Aunt Clara claimed as her own. It lived in the trees outside her house.
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Hah - this reminded me of a fancy Italian meal in London many moons ago, where they strongly recommended pigeon ravioli as one of the courses. I crunched down on a pellet because no one warned me… and I had no idea! (The ravioli were delicious, but I think it was the first and last time I ate pigeon… you just don’t see that much here.)
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Well, there you go. But if I recall, grey squirrels aren’t native to Great Britain, and that article even calls them an invasive species. Which they are. In the States, their common predators are red-tailed hawks, weasels, coyotes, badgers, foxes, and bobcats. So maybe the U.S. has more of the grey squirrels natural predators vs. the U.K.?
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This, we eat a lot here! Don’t worry, it’s not those flying in the city you are eating.
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I think that in France. pigeon is usually farmed while dove more likely wild/hunted.
Those wanting to try “organic” squirrel should contact our son. This summer he has worked his toffitz off trying to create a vegetable garden.
So far the drill is “plant seedlings, go to bed, ground squirrels arrive for dinner, check garden in the morning snd find plates eaten to soil level.”
Chapter 2: Bate traps. Catch skunks. Rig a pole with a hook to release latch snd free skunks. Repeat next night. Catch squirrels which attract foxes who drag trap around yard trying to get the squirrels out.
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Little rabbits loved to hang out among my tomato planters last year - like a fun maze or something, ha.
But they didn’t eat anything.
The pup (who was already giant in size) was constantly stalking them - couldn’t decide if he wanted to eat them or play with them. Either way, he never got close.
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I see pigeon on a lot of menus. To avoid the eww reaction factor, it’s normally called squab. Strange to think Americans have such an aversion to eating pigeons considering passenger pigeons were hunted to extinction for their meat.
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I know. It’s still not common on menus.
When I was fifteen I started working at a snack bar at a drive-in theater, my best job ever, it taught timing while cooking multiple items.
Anyway the manager allowed us to shoot pigeons with pellet guns in the screen tower because they were big mess makers. They were not eaten.
However there were dove and quail on the property and they were dispatched and eaten.
BTW the hamburgers were terrible. I think they used ground pigeon feathers and all.
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Well I wouldn’t say this was a “thing” but the venue offered it so we went for the “wow” factor. We were married in NJ, not a wildlife type environment. Lol
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I know you have lots of bear and deer up there.
Nothing screams “wow” like a bear burger or hot dog.
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Wow Jim Cantore in his baseball batting helmet in New Orleans is getting pummeled by Ida at one point going down to his knees.
Best of luck to all of our neighbors.
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The Meat is usually called Squab rather than Pigeon to denote a young Bird raised for Food. I do not think it was to avoid the “eww” Factor. I have never seen it referred as Pigeon in a culinary Context.
As a newlywed (1 week) the first meal I cooked for guests was a New Years Day brunch with waffles and elk burgers. We were serving 24 people
And in-laws had given us 10# ground elk. It fit our entertaining budget.
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