Is it safe to eat rattlesnakes?

It’s best to leave snakes alone, but if you do get a fresh rattlesnake, you might as well eat it. Rattlesnake meat is white, tender, and tastes like a cross between frog legs and turtle. While there are a lot of rib bones, a big rattlesnake has a backstrap-like muscle that runs the entire length of the backbone.

Does rattlesnake taste good?

“Rattlesnake tastes, when breaded and fried, like a sinewy, half-starved tilapia,” according to The New York Times. Called “desert whitefish” in the Southwest, it’s reportedly “bland and difficult to eat,” tough, sinewy, and full of little bones. There’s very little in the way of actual flavor.

What to do if you run into a rattlesnake?

Act quickly to get help, but stay calm. Get medical attention as soon as possible. Antivenom sweeps up the venom. Exertion spreads the venom faster, so keep your heart rate as slow as you can.

Can you eat rattlesnake bones?

There are two ways to cook rattlesnake meat: De-boned, or with the bones still intact. If you cook it with the bones intact you will have to deal with them while eating it. This is no big deal really, and in fact many “just the snake” type recipes (baked snake, southern fired snake, etc.)

How long do you have after being bitten by a rattlesnake?

You’ll begin to see symptoms immediately, but your symptoms will worsen over time. Ideally, you’ll reach medical help within 30 minutes of being bitten. If the bite is left untreated, your bodily functions will break down over a period of 2 or 3 days and the bite may result in severe organ damage or death.

How do you eat a rattlesnake?

The Eating Anatomically, eating a rattlesnake is sort of similar to eating a bony fish. I found success with the following technique. Start on the back side of the snake and use your teeth to peel the long strips of meat away from the spine (basically, the rattlesnake version of back straps).

What would happen if you ate a rattlesnake carcass?

Eating a rotting carcass – whether death resulted from snake venom or other reason – could, indeed, cause some intestinal distress. Another option would be if said rattlesnake slithered in your direction as you were absconding with its meal, or if you otherwise disturbed the snake.

Is it safe to eat snake venom?

Yes. Snake venom is not poisonous. Venom is only a danger if injected, or if it enters an open wound. It is destroyed by heating and by stomach acids. Consuming raw snake venom would be a risk if there were any open wounds in the mouth and esophagus, but otherwise, not. Consuming cooked snake venom would be risk-free.

What happens if you cut a rattlesnake in half?

“The head end of a cut-up rattlesnake can continue to function, including the venom glands, for a long time afterward and, in fact, the other half continues to work,” Boyer tells Gizmodo. “It’ll rise and rattle.” Jayne and Boyer advise individuals faced with similar reptilian dilemmas to leave the snake alone or call an expert to remove it.