Snake Eating

[Long_Hunter]

Snake Eating 101

As the weather warms up, I have been seeing more and more of our slithering denizens out and about, so I thought it might be appropriate to bring this up. All poisonous and nonpoisonous fresh water and land snakes are edible, but do not eat sea snakes unless it is your last meal, ever.

Take extreme care in securing snakes as the bite of some (but not all) poisonous snakes can be fatal; some will just make you so sick you might wish it had been fatal. Even after a snake's head is cut off, its reflex action can cause it to bite, injecting poison. The best time to capture snakes is in the early morning or late evening when temperatures are low and they move slow, but never underestimate them. Kill (preferable) or use a long stick to pin down its head and capture it. To pick up a snake, place the index finger on the top rear of its head with your thumb and middle finger on either side of the head behind the jaws. Keep your index finger on top of the snake’s head to prevent it from turning inside its skin and biting you; yes it can do this. I recommend simply cutting the head off prior to handling the snake, but that is just me- I don’t like to play with my food, but it may be necessary to pick the snake up and reposition it in order to remove the head.

To prepare snakes for eating use the following steps:

(a) Cut off the head with a knife or other implement.
(b) Slit the belly (the whole length of the snake) and remove the innards. (You can use the innards for baiting traps and snares).
(c) Skin the snake. (You can use the skin for improvising, belts, straps, or similar items).
(d) What remains is 100% edible. Recommend cooking; I have never had snake tartare so cannot comment on it.

And before you ask, yes I have had snake, Eastern Diamondback, and it tasted like the Louisiana hot sauce I drowned it in- you do have Tabasco in your BoB don’t’ you? It goes a long way to making the inedible, edible.

Bon appétit!;)
LH

[neverknow]

Your the man info i needed

[TacSKS]

Nice LH! Love these short tutorials. Read your one on river crossings, very good info.

Any advice on killing methods in the wilderness? I've always had a shovel or hoe around the house to use. I've seen Bear Grylls smack them with sticks, but I don't really trust all his techniques. In theory it should work, so would dropping a large rock on em, just never had to do it personally. Thanks

[Long_Hunter]

Nice LH! Love these short tutorials. Read your one on river crossings, very good info.

Any advice on killing methods in the wilderness? I've always had a shovel or hoe around the house to use. I've seen Bear Grylls smack them with sticks, but I don't really trust all his techniques. In theory it should work, so would dropping a large rock on em, just never had to do it personally. Thanks

Rocks are way underrated; rock-a-way! Boot heel, sticks, or even drawing straws amongst your group to designate a "snake wrangler". Want to see RATTZILLA, just google it- giant eastern diamond back in Jacksonville, Fl last fall. Good Stuff.

LH

[Apocalyptic_Sojourner]

See, I use rocks to kill rattle snakes whenever I come across one. But my question is, if you smash the snake with the rocks, and it bursts its guts open, will that spoil the meat.

[TacSKS]

if you smash the snake with the rocks, and it bursts its guts open, will that spoil the meat.

HaHa! That's why I love this site. Try asking that anywhere else and you'll get a bunch of bleeding-heart PETA nuts screaming at you. Here it's a legitimate question.

P.S. I would just try and wash the snake guts off in the creek before cooking.

[Long_Hunter]

See, I use rocks to kill rattle snakes whenever I come across one. But my question is, if you smash the snake with the rocks, and it bursts its guts open, will that spoil the meat.

Honestly, I was trying to decide if this was a serious question or sarcasm... Use a BFR (Big F**king Rock) on the head... don't smash the body. Cut the head off with your knife; lost your knife, use your backup; lost your back up, use your hatchet, hand saw or other sharp instrument, even a sharp edged rock (remember, most of us have relatives from the stone age). Nothing to cut with... well that makes it easy... no snake for you, give up and die or donate your body to roving bands of cannibals.
If you have succesfully removed the head, make a deep cut runing the length of the snake; use your fingers, dragging them the length of the snake and removing the "guts". Place these to the side for use as bait at one of your snares, deadfalls, etc... Next, skin the snake (if you work it right it will peel right off like a banana in one piece); if you want to rinse the meat off and have the fresh water source to do it, then by all means take your meat swimming, otherwise just cook the hell out of it. Cut the meat into smaller pieces, roast over your small, hidden in a below ground level hole open flame, or your sheeple 30' high bon-fire; add a little tobasco or your other favorite condiment and enjoy! Some days your the snake, some days your the snake eater.

I have been really sarcastic here and meant no insult to anyone... LH

[Apocalyptic_Sojourner]

No, my bad. I am a sarcastic sonofabitch. But I was being serious. I don't have much hunting experience aside from birds & Hajj. (Neither of which require much cleaning.) And I've read (since I assume there will be limited game-preparation facilities PSHTF, I've been doing some studying) that if the guts bust open it makes the meat taste bad. I don't know if I can land a rock right on a snakes head. Usually rattlers are all coilded up so I just smash the shit of em. But I guess if you were hungry enough you'd eat it anyway. With enough tobasco, right? Appreciate the help, LH.

Hey you got any experience with snares? 'Cause I've got these nifty Thompson Self-Locking snares now & I wanna try em out. They came with instructions, but I'd take any tips I can get.

[FrogTacos]

Although I haven't eaten any (yet?) I do know one thing that might prove good to know by someone. Every single time we have gone night fishing (NOTE: In Texas) - we would put the lantern right at the edge of the water - the snakes were ALWAYS attracted to the light. So, if you are in an area with water snakes and you don't have to worry about light discipline try it out. Seems like an easy meal if you have the rocks handy.

[snake35]

The boy and I eat copperheads. The non-venomous snakes we leave to provide rodent control.