A farmer is on the hunt for grey squirrels to be used in burgers at his pop-up restaurant.
Gareth Wyn Jones, who has racked up more a million followers across his social media accounts – including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok – will be serving squirrel burgers at an event near Bangor, North Wales, next month.
Despite being a keen cook, the pop-up will mark Mr Jones’s first time running a restaurant.
The Welsh Game Fair will take place at the Faenol estate on the weekend of 9 and 10 September.
Mr Jones said grey squirrels had contributed to a decline in the native red squirrel population.
“Grey squirrels are not native to this country,” said Mr Jones, who farms near Llanfairfechan.
“They were introduced from America and they have led to the decline of our own red squirrel population.
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“Squirrel meat is like any other wild food, eating them is like foraging for anything else.”
Mr Jones, whose family has been farming the land at Ty’n Llwyfan in Conwy for 375 years, said squirrels were a “fantastic wild food”.
“All I need now is an alternative butcher to supply the grey squirrels and it’ll be ready, steady, cook.”
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‘Tantalise tastebuds’
Red squirrels are a legally protected species and it is illegal to intentionally kill, injure or disturb them.
But grey squirrels are classed as an invasive species and have limited legal protection.
In the US, most states classify squirrels as game animals that can be killed for food.
The Welsh Game Fair follows similar events The Game Fair and the Scottish Game Fair.
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James Gower, chief executive of Stable Events which organise the fair, said he had been “delighted with the response” of the first fair of its kind in Wales.
“Our aim is to celebrate everything that is best about the countryside and rural pursuits, including the wider benefits of conservation and field sports,” he said.
“The idea of putting squirrel burgers on the menu is inspired because it means we can find a good use for a real rural pest and tantalise people’s tastebuds at the same time.”
