A Squirrel’s Tale

‘RETIRED engineer David Griffith and his wife Heulwen were looking out at the garden of their home in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, when they saw a gang of squirrels burrowing away into their lovely lawn.

”Ruddy grey squirrels. Come over her, steal OUR nuts, dig up OUR truffles…”

”They had been nibbling at something,” remembers Mr Griffith, who went out to investigate. But whereas most people would have discovered some old nuts or a tennis ball, Griffith was pleasantly surprised to unearth a summer truffle (Tuber aestivum, since you ask).

Truffles fetch up to £400 in France, but the Griffiths prefers to consume them themselves. ”I believe the squirrels smell the scent just like a pig or a dog,” he tells the Telegraph. ”We use the truffles for cooking grated on to scrambled eggs, or with potato cakes.”

The next day, the family dog discovered crude oil under the birdbath. Which was nice.

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Posted: 6th, September 2002 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink