Rattlesnake?

[shmrck1]

Had some several years ago in an "eat joint"
in New Mexico, and it was great! Just wondering
does anybody use it in camp. How do you clean
them for cooking and how would you cook them,
rescipe wise? Of course hunting and capturing
them would fall under another forum.
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[Swampman]

In many states it's illegal to kill them.

 

[MSW]

Long ago and far away, when paratroopers wore brown boots, when men were men, and giants walked the earth, my scout platoon (known as 'that band of hoodlums' by the Bn Cdr, which of course only served to validate their behaviour) developed a penchant for eating rattlesnake. I personally don't care for the taste. They gutted and filleted (sp?) it, pretty much like a fish, and made it roasted over a campfire.

Check with the game warden. Filmed on a closed course with a professional driver. Do not try this in your own home. Results may vary...

 

[Ridge]

It's legal here.

I've never eaten them, but I have seen them prepared.

You basically just whack the head off an inch or two into the "body", then gut it like you would a fish. Peel back the hide and you are good to go.

 

[Stony]

Many many years ago, when I was in the Air Force stationed in Idaho, my friends and I would have a rattlesnake cookout every few months. There was an area to the northeast of town that was just filled with rattlesnakes. It was so bad, when someone tried to build a house there, it had to be abandoned because of all the snakes. To catch the snakes, we would put stove pipe under our jeans and just go walking. When the snakes would strike, the fangs would go through the jeans but hit the stove pipe and bend down. Then the snakes would be stuck to your pants. It would freak out folks if we stopped in town with 5 or 6 snakes hanging off our pants, rattles buzzing like crazy. :shocked2: We would go in the house and open up the freezer, grab the snake behind the head and pull them off the pants and toss them into the freezer. After a hour, they were done. We could grab them and clean them up. Get the grill going and cook them up. It was best to fillet them as they had too many bones otherwise. Tasted close to chicken but with a good bar-ba-que sauce, it had it's own appeal. :rotf:

 

[AZ-Robert]

In many states it's illegal to kill them.

Depends on the particular kind of rattlesnake. Some are federally protected. Here in AZ we have 11 types of rattlesnakes that are commonly encountered. Three of them are protected by federal and state laws.

Cleaning a rattlesnake is unpleasant -- they stink to high heaven. Take off the head and split the skin along the belly and cut a circle around the anus (blunt-nosed scissors or game shears work great), slip two fingers in between the entrails and the spine and gently push the entrails out as you work down the length. Depending on how you killed him, everything usually stays in the sheath and it comes out pretty clean and neat.

If you are saving the skin with rattle attached, don't split the tail below the anus but leave it intact. Pull the spine forward while folding the skin back towards the rattle -- turning it inside out. Go as far as you can then use a pair of needle nose pliers to get in as far as possible and pull the spine free of the rattles... like pulling a leg bone out of a hip socket. If you are careful, the rattles will stay attached to the skin.

Recipes at:[url] http://www.backwoodsbound.com/zsnake.html[/url]

 

[Bountyhunter]

This pair et purty good

Those deck boards are 2x8's,,,,,,,
So did this'un

This 'un is just a shag over 5 feet.

Got all three of these, right off the porch in the yard. The pair was gettin ready to do the wild thing, and I got both of em with one load of shot outta that .45 and the other one was crossing the drive, and sucombed to the second load of shot in that magazine.

After you skin and gut em, fillet the loin off next to the backbone. Soak them in milk for a bit, then roll em in flour, then dip em in egg wash, then dip em in flour/cornmeal again, and saute them in a skillet. Makes fair finger food. I find the taste more like frogs legs or fish.

Bill

 

[Recurve]

I skinned 16 last summer for a cookout. Next time I plan to wear rubber gloves. Your hands will smell into the next day no matter how much you wash them. The guy doing the cooking just fileted the meat off the back and cubed and breaded it and deep fried it like chicken nuggets. It tastes a little like a cross between chicken and fish but is not flaky like fish or stringy like chicken. Be sure and eat it fresh out of the fryer or it gets tough. Roll the skins up and freeze them until you find a bow builder or other craftsman that you can trade the skins too.

 

[rebel727]

I tried some BBQ'd once.(put my foot in my mouth but wasn't gonna back down :grin: ) It wasn't bad but not something I'd want to eat a lot of.

 

[graybeard]

Michigan's only poisonous snake, the massasauga rattler, is endangered, and not just when I see one when I have a shotgun. :shocked2: they are illegal to kill. :nono: Apparently they are getting scarce. I used to see one every one in a while, usually while trout fishing, but haven't seen one now in 10 years or more. I doubt I'll ever get hungry enough to eat a snake. graybeard

 

[Bountyhunter]

Reb,

Did'ja send any to Walter?

:rotf:

Bill

 

[bwhoffman]

been there, done that...
Found it best to skin, clean , soak in salt water, then par boil first. Then dip in egg and corn meal or ritz cracker or seasoned flour....fry up like fish, cat fish! tastes and looks like catfish too. was pretty good fare!

Brett.

 

[bwhoffman]

o hya...VERY IMPORTANT...
cut off the head and bury it... DEEP. fangs will have residue of the venoem, very poisonous evenafter time. the smaller the snake, the more potent. use cation.


Brett

 

[shmrck1]

Mark,
Illegal to hunt I can understand. But how do
you tell your mind "do not kill" if you come upon one
in the woods. He is maybe a couple of feet away
from you and rattleing like crazy. He best be
toten a white flag and waving it very fast or he
is dinner...IMO I assume as in most cases
self-defence rules, and walking out of the woods
with 3 or 4 of them would probably not impress
a game warden on that rule :rotf: .
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[Claude Mathis]

We used to eat them all the time. Cut into 4 inch sections, wrap with bacon and slow cook in oven.

Not a lot of taste and there's so little meat that it's hardly worth bothering with.

 

[shmrck1]

Claude,
Could be just the way I remember it, as
it was more than a couple of years age. I do remember
it was in an 'eat joint' in N.M. and I was 15/16
years old and my dad talked me into eating it.
And if I can remember correctly I stuffed myself
with it because I was the only one that liked
it. I would think seasoning would be very
important...especially if grilling or open
fireIMO
snake-eyes :thumbsup:

 

[Bountyhunter]

You mean your rattler dont come seasoned?

 

[shmrck1]

You mean your rattler dont come seasoned?

The ones I had back then for sure were,
but have not had the experience of preparing
one myself. Not to many to be found in Ohio if
any. Heard a barbershop rumor a few years back
that the DNR was dropping R/S from Hellicopters
to control rodents in certain areas of the state.
I always thought :bull: why trade a
mouse or rat for a R/S. But there are rumors
that you can hear about in every bar or barbershop in SE Ohio. Just go in one and bring
up the subject. :hmm:
snake-eyes :hatsoff:

 

[AZ-Robert]

Heard a barbershop rumor a few years back
that the DNR was dropping R/S from Hellicopters
to control rodents in certain areas of the state.

Owls and hawks would have been a better investment!

 

[musketman]

We used to eat them all the time. Cut into 4 inch sections, wrap with bacon and slow cook in oven.

Not a lot of taste and there's so little meat that it's hardly worth bothering with.

And as an added bonus, each snake comes with two handy tooth-picks... :grin: