man tree rats(squirrells) are some good eating! i wouldnt kill them for fun...to me i think thats unethical to take somethings life and leave it lay there....i myself killed geese...pheasants...chuckars(raised in pens for dog practice my friend took me to hunt once) i had no wil to eat any of them....i wanted to eat the pheasant but nobody else would eat them but me so i didnt make them because i didnt know if id like them and couldnt finish them....so i came home with them...cleaned them and put them in the frezzer and my dad took them all to a guy he knows at work that loves wild game...i suggest you do something of the sort instead of killing them and leaveing them lay...maybe poking it with a stick but still just wasting it...tree rats arent really pests...they can do some damage but nothin major at all...IAMBOB...good point about cleaning the game and them trying to swallow it thinking about how it was once running around eating on a tree limb until u blasted it...just that thought keeps people from hunting...and more people from eating their game...thats something for all new hunters to think of....good luck...if u dont want the meat find someone in the area that does or contact the game commision...PA has a program for hunters willing to help the needy...your state might...if not ask around if someone wants some squirrells that are cleaned and skinned and ready to be cooked....hmmm i cant wait to eat some rats!