This morning is criticized when the SQUIRREL cooks itself in a ‘cruel’ segment
This morning came under fire from angry viewers after a squirrel was cooked live on Thursday’s episode.
Holly Willoughby, 42, and Phillip Schofield, 60, received a risotto made from the rodent by chef Phil Vickery, 61, on ITV’s daytime show.
It comes after a wildlife campaign group claimed that gray squirrels should be served in restaurants.
Holly was shocked at the thought of the dish, but Phillip was eager to get into it, admitting it was “a bit chewy” as he made fun of the food.
Fans quickly took to Twitter, where they criticized the ‘cruel’ and ‘inhumane’ segment.
It’s disgusting and inhumane! She was criticized this morning when a SQUIRREL was cooked in a ‘cruel’ segment, while Phillip Schofield made fun of a ‘chewy’ risotto made from the rodent.
One wrote: ‘I think it’s disgusting that this morning you’re laughing and joking about eating gray squirrels live on TV. Are you sure they are wild animals and should not be killed for meat? Very cruel and inhuman.
Another added: ‘#ThisMorning lightheartedly discussing squirrel culling and killing all cats. Nice. Humans are evil.
A third chimed in: “Just saw you on This Morning about the Exmoor Squirrel Project encouraging people to eat Gray Squirrel, the world has gone mad.”
They had been discussing the Exmoor Squirrel Project, which recently claimed that the non-native creatures could be served in stews, pies and kebabs.
The group seeks to eradicate gray squirrels on Exmoor, so they can be replaced by native red squirrels.
The organizers are also in talks with two restaurants to serve dishes containing gray squirrel.
The project encourages local home and land owners to stop feeding gray squirrels, volunteer to monitor forests and, in some cases, with appropriate project training, set traps in gardens or on the dirt to catch squirrels.
Conservationists say red squirrels, which have lived in the UK for around 10,000 years, could be extinct here within a decade due to the invasive gray squirrel.
Awful: They had been discussing the Exmoor Squirrel Project, which recently claimed that the non-native creatures could be made into stews, pies and kebabs.
It’s not the first time eating squirrels has made the news.
In 2009, Walkers announced that it would begin selling ‘Cajun Squirrel’ flavored potato chips after a competition for the public to suggest new flavors.
The following year, the Daily Mail revealed how a branch of the Budgens supermarket chain in north London’s fashionable Crouch End had started selling squirrels.
Squirrel pie, meanwhile, was a popular delicacy served up until the last century, when it disappeared from the British menu, but has enjoyed a resurgence since the turn of the previous decade thanks to attempts to save its squirrels from extinction. less aggressive red cousins.
Thousands of gray squirrels were sold to restaurants, butcher shops and put up for sale at farmers markets after being legally trapped and shot in wooded and rural areas.
A decade later, an anti-vegan protester was filmed eating a dead squirrel in front of shocked onlookers at a vegan market.
Gray squirrels carry the squirrelpox virus, which is harmless to them but deadly to red squirrels.
While some environmentalists simply want to keep the two groups of squirrels separate, the Exmoor Squirrel Project wants to get rid of the grays and reintroduce red squirrels.
Yuck! It comes after a wildlife campaign group claimed that gray squirrels should be served in restaurants.
Disgusting: Holly was shocked at the thought of the dish, but Phillip was hungry to get into it, admitting it was “a bit chewy” as he scoffed at the food.
Oh no! Holly Willoughby, 42, and Phillip Schofield, 60, were treated to a risotto made from the rodent by chef Phil Vickery, 61, on ITV’s daytime show.
Kerrie Hosegood, interim manager of the Exmoor Squirrel Project, which owns a forestry company called Three Atop Woodland Services, says gray squirrels have caused an estimated £40m worth of damage to UK trees.
She said: ‘I’ve had gray squirrel before, after I skinned and boned one, and it tastes quite good, game, like rabbit.
‘It’s perfect to leave in the slow cooker and eat in a stew.
‘We want people to help control the gray squirrel, so we are offering training.
“Landlords and homeowners can help address the problem of tree-destroying gray squirrels.”
The gray squirrel is the main reason for the decline of the red squirrel, having replaced native squirrels in almost all of England and Wales.
Furious: Fans quickly took to Twitter where they criticized the ‘cruel’ and ‘inhumane’ segment
Wildlife groups carefully monitor squirrel populations and conduct targeted control of gray squirrels in areas where red squirrels are threatened with extinction.
The Exmoor Squirrel Project, however, wants to reintroduce red squirrels by getting rid of gray squirrels, and already does trapping and shooting of greys.
Mrs Hosegood said: “A gray squirrel will tear away the bark to get to the sap below, and we need to protect our forest and native trees.”
However, I don’t think any animal should die in vain, so it makes sense that we eat these squirrels.
“It would also be great to donate gray squirrels to animal sanctuaries and zoos, which may be struggling with the cost of living crisis, to use as food for their carnivores.”