that's according to the state's DEP..
http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=32574
SQUIRREL OFF THE MENU IN NEW JERSEY
Friday, January 26, 2007 - FreeMarketNews.com
Some say they're "good eatin'" while others consider them just "rats with bushy tails." Either way, squirrel hunters in New Jersey are being warned not to dine on the local squirrel-meat, due to possible toxic poisoning of the animals.
Accounts at Fox News and wire services note that local hunters in the Ringwood area of Trenton are being cautioned by the Department of Health and Senior Services to avoid the critters, due to potential lead contamination from a nearby toxic waste dump. Included among those warned in particular are members of the Ramapough Mountain Indian tribe, who hunt and fish in the area. After finding lead in at least one area squirrel, the state's Department of Environmental Protection advised that "adults eat squirrel no more than twice a week and even less for children and pregnant women."
A local resident is quoted as saying, "We've known for a long time something was wrong here; we just didn't know what it was." Theories hold that the lead may come from toxic waste, including paint sludge, dumped in the area by the Ford Motor Co. during the 1960s and early 1970s, from its now-closed car manufacturing plant in Mahwah, which is still in the process of being cleaned up. - ST
Staff Reports - Free-Market News Network
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