Posted: July 29th, 2010 - 9:23am by Doug Powell

In Jan. 2010, Michelle blogged about the popularity of squirrel meat in the U.K. and someone commented,

“I live in the U.K. and have never ever seen squirrel being sold in any supermarket or shop and would be quite surprised if I ever did! As far as I’m aware its not popular at all.”

The Daily Mail reports this morning that a British supermarket has started selling squirrel, and is reporting "huge interest" in the cheap and healthy meat.

Grey squirrel meat is high in protein and low in fat, and is selling for just £3 ($5.25) at budget supermarket Budgens, reports.

Once a staple of English cooking, squirrel is said to have a nutty flavour and can be cooked in soups, pies and casseroles.

The North London branch of the supermarket selling the meat said there had been "huge interest" but admitted that more customers were looking rather than buying so far.

Animal welfare group Viva has accused Budgens of cashing in on a "massacre" by putting grey squirrel back on the menu, with founder Juliet Gellatley saying,

"If this store is attempting to stand out from the crowd by selling squirrel, the only message they are giving out is that they are happy to have the blood of a beautiful wild animal on their hands for the sake of a few quid.”