As the kitchen manager at the Odd Soul, a pizzeria and bar in Springdale, Arkansas, Addie Hayes is used to spending Saturday mornings in front of a stove. But today, she’s a little out of her element.

The annual World Championship Squirrel Cookoff starts at 9 a.m. Saturday and continues all day at the Hunt Family Nature Center in Springdale. Admission is free. Forty teams of squirrel cooks start ...