# Warning: mad squirrel disease **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 20, 2002, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-mad-squirrel-disease/99182 "2002-03-20T08:08:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![veg\_all](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@veg\_all](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veg_all)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-mad-squirrel-disease/99182/1 "2002-03-20T08:08:37Z")
It seems to me Cecil should have mentioned the fact that squirrel head eating, a common practice, apparently, in Kentucky and nearby reigions (I live, unfortunately, in southern Indiana, but, fortunately, have not been yet exposed to this practice), has been implicated in the transmission of spongiform encephalopathy, AKA mad cow disease. The transmisive agents (postulatively identified with the neologism “prion”) appear to survive the frying to which apparently delectible squirrel brains are subjected prior to consumption. There are reported cases in rural humans of a disease resembling mad cow disease which have been traced to the consumption of squirrel brains. Just something to keep in mind the next time you’re lip-lickingly skinning one of our bushy-tailed buddies: you might want to consider discarding the head. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-mad-squirrel-disease/99182/2 "2002-03-20T08:40:07Z")
A link to the column is appreciated. Providing one can be as simple as pasting the URL into your post, making sure to leave a space on either side of it. The column in question is [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_014.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_014.html) Note that this column was written in 1976, while the link between squirrel brains and CJD was first published in _Lancet_ in 1997. For more about the link, see [http://www.mad-cow.org/~tom/victim23.html](http://www.mad-cow.org/~tom/victim23.html) ---
**Author:** ![veg\_all](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@veg\_all](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veg_all)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-mad-squirrel-disease/99182/3 "2002-03-20T08:43:19Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_014.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_014.html) ---
**Author:** ![veg\_all](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@veg\_all](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veg_all)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-mad-squirrel-disease/99182/4 "2002-03-20T08:50:11Z")
I forgot to link, I posted three times, and, worst, I didn’t realize it was a “classic” column, which antedated the stuff i cited by a decade, obviating my critique. I’m just going to go hide in my bathroom for a while. ---
**Author:** ![veg\_all](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@veg\_all](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veg_all)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-mad-squirrel-disease/99182/5 "2002-03-20T08:54:15Z")
two decades. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-mad-squirrel-disease/99182/6 "2002-03-20T16:33:15Z")
Don’t sweat it, **veg**. You aren’t the first to overlook that, and I’m sure you won’t be the last. At least you posted useful information. RR ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2002, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-mad-squirrel-disease/99182/7 "2002-03-21T09:05:27Z")
The column can also be found on pages 14-15 of Cecil Adams’ book «[_The Straight Dope (1984; reissued 1986, 1998)_](https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/dopestore/buystuff.bat#tsd)». ---
**Author:** ![transient](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@transient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/transient)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-mad-squirrel-disease/99182/8 "2003-02-26T02:31:49Z")
In any case, considering the sorts of people likely to be eating squirrel heads (I can’t believe I’m typing that!), if they did get CJD, how could anybody tell?