How long for a Rattle Snake to know it's dead?

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

I was out dove hunting, and a rattle snake scared me, and well . . . I blew it's head of with 1.25 oz of #6 out of my 12 gauge at about 2'!

I cut an additional 2" of neck off . . . then put it in my bag, it has been about 1.25 hours since I shot it, but I had it in my sink, and when I try to slit it's belly open to skin/clean it, it starts wriggling and pulling away from me . . . it is quite strong!

I even yelled at it, and told it that "I had blasted your head off, then cut your neck off, your dead!" My wife laughed at me! But . . . it gives me the hebbie jebbies!

I want the skin, and gonna try to eat it for dinner tonight or tomorrow!

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnTVT/Guns/Hunting/DeadSnake.jpg


[smilie=s:

[dualsport]

It seems like reptiles and amphibians do that, don't know when they're dead. Octopus is like that too. So what's on the menu? Rattlesnake chile? mmmm

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

So what's on the menu? Rattlesnake chile? mmmm

Got a recipe? I was gonna just saute it in some butter and garlic . . . but chilli does sound good!

So do they ever stop wriggling around? or is it something I just need to get over?

[canyon-ghost]

Being cold blooded, their movement is dictated by the temperature around them. Their central nervous system only comes alive after about 60 degrees fahrenhiet. They are so slow in metabolism and fast in nerve response that they are some strange critters indeed.

[RobS]

When you cook em they'll stop. :) Not to worry, it is the nervous system and nothing more. I would have figured after over an hour though all nerve connections would have pretty much quite firing. Kind of like when you butcher chickens........they'll run for a while and then just lie over and twitch for a bit.

[dualsport]

Nope, no recipe. I confess I've never made snake chili, but I've eaten it. It was good. The snakes I've eaten were cooked on a stick over a fire in survival school long ago. The good thing about chile is it covers up odd stuff. Let us know what you come up with, there's probably lots of stuff on snake chile if you google it.

[montana_charlie]

I even yelled at it, and told it that "I had blasted your head off, then cut your neck off, your dead!"
It can't hear you because you deprived it of ears when you cut it's head off...
CM

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

Well it is 2+ hours and it is still fighting me!

I ran some cool (well . . . cool for here) water in the sink, added two trays of ice cubes . . . and now I put it in the fridge, I'll check on it in about an hour . . .

Charlie, I didn't know they had ears . . . but it sure made me feel better! And when I complained to my wife and told her since she thought it was so funny, she can do it, to which she replied, "Honey, I wasn't laughing at you, I was laughing with you!"

[Char-Gar]

Snakes in general and rattlesnakes in particular don't have brains. There nervous system is controled by a series of nerve bundles (ganglions) up and their spine. That is why a severed head will try to bite you and a decapated body will still wiggle.

[cbrick]

And as strange as it sounds they don't have ears and are completely deaf, yet they have rattles to make noise to warn off possible dangers. So if they can't hear, have never heard and know nothing of hearing sound how do they know that other critters can hear their rattle? :coffeecom Hhmmm?

Rick

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

They sense vibrations somehow, so if the vibrations go away, or they see the "problem" go away, they figure it got the message . . . I wonder what a 12 gauge's vibrations sound like?

Over 1.5 hours in the fridge with ice cubes . . . still acting up, I shot it 4 hours ago!

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnTVT/Guns/Hunting/ColdSnake.jpg

I did manage to get it slit open, but it gives me the creeps! Looks like the guts are white? or is that babies?

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnTVT/Guns/Hunting/Snakeguts.jpg

I started to try to skin it at the neck, it was hanging straight down with the tail in the pan, as I pulled, it picked up it's whole body and start to wrap around my arm! I yelled and dropped it! I put it back in the fridge!

I really want to do this, as I want the skin, and I'd like to try to cook it and eat it, but I'm not sure I can if the silly thing keeps acting up!

[docone31]

A rattler won't kick it untill sun down.
Nothing you do will speed it up.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

A rattler won't kick it untill sun down.
Nothing you do will speed it up.

Well it's dark in the fridge, and . . . it is overcast outside . . . :mrgreen:

So your saying I gotta wait twelve hours?

[OutHuntn84]

Wow never had one wiggle that long! Never kept one whole that long either. Usually just choff off the head, gut it, peel the skin, chop it up and cook it! Snake chilli is good, but I always liked mine deep fried. Just roll it in some corn meal with some pepper for seasoning umm umm good! It's always amazed me how fried rattler tastes like baked chicken!

[Freightman]

I kinda like mine "DEAD"!!!!! Son shot one while we were dove hunting also, he was going to skin and eat. Haven't heard yet how that came out.

[SciFiJim]

as I pulled, it picked up it's whole body and start to wrap around my arm! I yelled and dropped it! I put it back in the fridge!

Its a reptile. You are slowing down the process by refrigerating it. Leave it in the sink until it warms up and stops fighting you. Its dead already, so it can't hurt you. Go ahead and gut it. Just drag a finger inside to scoop out the glop and then rinse well.

Have you thought about how you are going to save the skin? If you are going to stake it to a board to dry, do you have your board ready? You can freeze the skin for a few days if you need to. Just let it thaw completely before stretching. The link below will help explain the process.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6642027_preserve-rattle-snake-skin.html (http://www.ehow.com/how_6642027_preserve-rattle-snake-skin.html)

[bhn22]

I hate snakes...

[DLCTEX]

Many years ago (1960) I cut a rattlesnakes head off with a side sickle mower cutting hay. It left about two inches attached to the head. About two hours later the farmer's German Shepard was nosing around and began yelping and shaking it's head. We found the head firmly attached to the dog's lower jaw. We pried it off and buried it. The dog swelled up just as if it had been bitten by a healthy snake.
Nice rattles there Shawn!

[WildmanJack]

I've skinned out more than I care to remember. First off, driy the little bugger off, then wrap ihim in saran wrap or waxed paper. Put him in a paper bag and then into the freezer. Leave him there for a day or so ( till he get's nice and hard). Then take him ouyt, slit him down the belly and his skin will peal off like a banana!! Piece of cake ( or snake)
Jack

[WildmanJack]

If you want to know how to tan and preserve the skin, let me know... It's pretty easy...
Jack

[SciFiJim]

If you want to know how to tan and preserve the skin, let me know... It's pretty easy...

I'd like to learn how from someone that has done it.
How about some instruction?

[montana_charlie]

And as strange as it sounds they don't have ears and are completely deaf,
Contrary to popular myth, rattlesnakes are not deaf. In fact, the structure of their inner ears is very much like that of other reptiles. They do, however, lack external ears. Sound (whether from air or ground vibration) is transmitted to the snake's inner ear via vibrations in other body structures.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattlesnake

[GabbyM]

Watching that TV show Swamp People last week. They had alligator meat cut into a steak. Fellow held it in front of camera and ran a knife over the meat. It squirmed. He said that's how they tell if they are still fresh. Had been caught on a line shot in the head then road in a boat and pickup for hours.

Hit a rattler with a 22-250 with V-Max from three feet and you wont be able to find a large enough piece to squirm. Four to six rounds of 44 or 45 hand gun pretty much chops them into pieces to small to lay on a grill also.

I'll bet you ran into that rattle snake after you'd shot a few rounds off. Seams they come into the thud to see what's up. May be my limited experience coincidence but they sure seam to come around when we shoot prairie dogs. Couple friends of mine shot five in a few hours and never got up out of there chairs.
All we found of them was one head hanging on a sage brush limb and a lot of little strings of meat. You could say they made a bad career decision coming up behind shooters and shaking that rattle.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

9.5 hours it is still fighting (resisting)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHY9BPpKZwA

Gives me the heebie geebies!

I was actually walking around . . . I had to jump them out of the mesquite trees . . . they weren't flying into the tanks . . .

[RobS]

Pretty Cool.............if this sort of thing doesn't freak ya out.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

I ended up remembering if you hold them in the middle, they kinda go limp, so I did that, and gutted it, then wrapped it in saran wrap, and it's in the freezer now!

Tomorrow I'll see how the skin comes off . . .

[OutHuntn84]

I think we could make a drinking game outta that video. Everytime Shawn tells the snake it's dead, ya take a drink! Bet ya wont be able to watch it twice lol

[Hardcast416taylor]

I recall way back when on the farm when I was a "little bit younger" than I am now. We had dispatched a blue racer near the chicken house. It behaved like your rattler did for hours. When I asked my dad why it still was moving hours after we had cut it`s head off. He replied with the typical folk wisdom of an elder to a youngster, "it`ll twitch till the sun goes down and darkness is full".Robert

[home in oz]

It is not a case of "knowing it is dead" it is about reflex movements in a primitive nervous system.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

Only seven times on the video I said it was dead or die . . . you should have heard me yelling at it when I first brought it home . . . or when I was trying to cut it open!

[mold maker]

Yep and I'll bet your reflexes worked every time the rattler's did. I know mine would.
We don't have rattlers here, normally, but cotton mouths and copper heads are common.

[waksupi]

If you want to see something interesting, butcher a paddle fish some time. They are so primitive, that after having their spinal structure and guts removed, the flesh stays active. It cringes under the blade as you cut steaks. And if you cut them too thick, you would swear it is still moving after being cooked, and eaten.

[JIMinPHX]

I've never known a snake to have ears, but I've been told that their lower jaw is sensitive to vibration. Rattlers are pit vipers & sense what is in front of them by feeling heat with a sensor that is in a pit in front of their eyes.

With snakes or eels, I nail them to a board, then grab the skin with pliers, then slit them open with some Fiskars brand tin snips that I got at Walmart.

As for cooking them, I just bread them & fry them, like they were chicken Mc nuggets or something.

[chaos]

Their central nervous system only comes alive after about 60 degrees fahrenhiet.


I know that books would lead one to believe that the preceding statement is true, but it is utter and complete unadultereated B.S.

I grew up catching snakes( Western Diamondbacks) and selling them here http://www.rattlesnakeroundup.net/main/modules/page/

I've caught snakes out sunning when there was SNOW on the ground. If their den is not too deep they will be laying all around the surface anytime the sun is shining. They will be super slow, but they will be out sunning. They dont Hibernate like folks think.

As to the poster original question, they will squirm and flop around for a good while. it's just how it is, not going to hurt anything by cleaning it right off.


As far as eating snakes, its just like eating the rib cages out of fish, not enough meat to fool with. Taste like squirrel, just much tougher and hard to get off the bone. Only reason I can figure to eat one is just for the novety of saying you did so. Have only eaten them chicken fried, but I reckon if you could cook one where the bones would be edible, you might make a meal out of it. Like pressure cooked Salmon I suppose?

I wacked this one a couple of years back. Wasn't enough to even make a meal for my two boys, but they wanted to try it:
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s132/colbcheese/rattler009.jpg

I don't catch them to sell anymmore, what they bring wont pay for the gas hauling them around or the little needed to drive them out of their dens. We just whack their heads off and leave em.

As the man DLCTEX said, bury the head after you kill 'em. Still dangerous for a while.

[9.3X62AL]

My Dad remarked that snakes--especially rattlers--were just too stupid to know whether they're dead or not. He never failed to blast one whenever he sighted one--he loathed the things. I've also noticed that the things seem to come around on dove hunts, not so much on rat hunts though. I'll check my six more often while varminting after reading this material above.

Of course, the things are fully protected here in The Worker's Paradise. Just like crows can only be hunted in small sections of the State, during a season, with bag limits. It's not just our right-to-carry laws that are jacked-up.

[chaos]

My Dad remarked that snakes--especially rattlers--were just too stupid to know whether they're dead or not. He never failed to blast one whenever he sighted one--he loathed the things. I've also noticed that the things seem to come around on dove hunts, not so much on rat hunts though. I'll check my six more often while varminting after reading this material above.

Of course, the things are fully protected here in The Worker's Paradise. Just like crows can only be hunted in small sections of the State, during a season, with bag limits. It's not just our right-to-carry laws that are jacked-up.


Timber Rattlesnakes are protected here in Texas. I grew up in Gainesville, near the Red River. They had rattlesnake round-ups in the area as well. probably a 50% mixture of Diamondbacks and Timber/canebreaks up there. Had to shut them down as folks would bring in Timber rattlers and get fined. That's When we started hauling them to Sweetwater.

Rattlers lay low all Summer and hunt at night. The heat will kill them. Folks start bumping into them in the daylight hours this time of year as it cools down.

I have since moved out here and they are just a part of every day life. My sons Chihuahua got bit last week while going out to pee. Luckily for the dog it was a dry bite.

Chaos

[scrapcan]

As to a previous question as to if there were babies in there. I can assure you that if there were babbies you would have known. I worked on a place in Northern CO that had more snakes than one wanted, we killed everyone we saw. One of my coworkers sold skins so we all learned to skin and stretch. My last rattler to skin was a female with lots of littel ones inside. Enough said, the only good snake is a dead snake.

On a side note we ate some that was smoked and it was ok when eaten with saltine crackers. But I could eat just the crackers and be happy.

[JIMinPHX]

I always thought that snakes had eggs.

Which ever way they do reproduce, now seems to be about the time of year that the new hires start showing up.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

The way I understand it is some species have eggs, others like the rattler have live young ready to bite! (there the size of worms I'm told)

[EOD3]

If you want to see something interesting, butcher a paddle fish some time. They are so primitive, that after having their spinal structure and guts removed, the flesh stays active. It cringes under the blade as you cut steaks. And if you cut them too thick, you would swear it is still moving after being cooked, and eaten.

Why, in GODS name would anyone eat something like that? OK, what happened to the puke smiley?

[Doby45]

Snakes are the Debil..

[EOD3]

My father always said that "a rattler don't die till sundown". I never timed one to see if it's true. :coffee:

Generally speaking, snake makes pretty good fish bait.

[JIMinPHX]

others like the rattler have live young ready to bite! (there the size of worms I'm told)

That's funny, my buddies & I call them buzz worms, even the big ones.:mrgreen:

[hammerhead357]

Wow so much misinformation on this one. I am overwhelmed. They die when you cut off the head. The nerves keep them moving. They do have a brain. They don't have external ears but do sense certain sounds and do pick up vibarations from the ground thorugh their bodies. The head can deliever a bite after is is severed due to nerve reaction.
I eat rattlesnake once in a while to remind myself why I don't eat it more often. It is pretty good when fried and treated properly. But if it isn't it is nasty.
Why do otherwise intelligent people have such a fear of snakes???????Wes
Oh yes it is a learned fear. Humans are not born with a fear of snakes. Chimps are but humans learn it from other humans.

[EOD3]

OK, who said they were afraid of snakes? Own up! Your manhood has been besmirched by the snake psychiatrist. Y'all know the whatever-phobic remarks will only get worse. :roll:

[lwknight]

I don't exactly like snakes in general and a if I found a rattler out in the rocks I would let him go. If I found 1 around my house , he's dead chili. Copperheads and water moccasins are different. I would kill them on sight anywhere if I could.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

Sometimes a good dose of fear is a good thing.

Since I'm a Christian and read and believe my Bible I know it says in Gen 3:14-15 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above cattle, and every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heal.

I talked with our science teacher yesterday on a break, and she did confirm that snakes have brains, just that there tiny, and don't do a whole lot of thought process like ours do . . .

I was too tired/lazy when I got home last night, the snakes still napping in the freezer!

[WildmanJack]

I don't particularly like to kill anything unless I'm gonna eat it. Therefore.... unless I find a rattler around a home I just leave it alone. If it's around a house or in a populated neighborhood, it's gonna become a belt or a hat band. If I get a call from a friend or neighbor that there's a rattler in the area, I try to get some dry ice from Publix put it in a cooler, get my snake stick, and put the varmint in the cooler. By the next day they're toast, then into the freezer for a few days. Take em out, let them thaw a little and start skinnin. Clean all the meat off the skin, and tack it down scales down to a board or piece of cardboard. Cover it with NON-Iodized salt for a couple of days. then soak it in heavily salted water for about 4 hours. Take it out, roll it up and squeeze the water out. Buy yourself a bottle of snake tanning solution from Tandy Leather. wipe it on the inside of the skin and let it dry. then spray the scales with clear shellac, that will keep the scales on a bit longer. Good luck and don't get bit...

Jack
:bigsmyl2:

[bhn22]

Anyway... it the damn thing dead yet?

I didn't watch the video, I hate zombie movies.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

Well . . . it is still in the freezer, probable not moving . . . maybe on my lunch break, I'll take it out to skin . . .

[dualsport]

That's one famous snake. He deserves a name, something vicious, like 'Sid'. Scarin' folks all over the place, that's not right. I think you should reattach the head and let him go. Poor thing.

[Eagles6]

Cut it into silver dollar sized pieces. Cut across the spine between the ribs. Dust with corn meal or flour and fry in butter. That's as good as it gets. (Not saying it's good, just as good as rattlesnake gets).

[RP]

When I get a ratter I just cut head off pull skin back no spliting just remove like a sock dont baby it just pull Oh skin towards you meat away unless you like guts on you.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

This afternoon I took the snake out of the freezer, let it thaw for awhile, then pulled the skin off! I was not able to keep the little coontail or the rattles hooked on like I wanted too . . . but that's the way it worked out!

Stretched it out on a board, with the skin against the board, it sure is long, even with out the first 4" or so of it's head, and the last 6-7" of it's tail it is still 47" long! I ran out of board!
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnTVT/Guns/Hunting/RattleSnakeSkin.jpg

So I cleaned it up a little better, then cut it into 4" chunks:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnTVT/Guns/Hunting/CutupRattleSnake.jpg

Took some course cornmeal, and some fresh ground spelt flour, added some salt and pepper, rolled it around . . .
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnTVT/Guns/Hunting/BreadedRattleSnake.jpg

Got about 2" of canola oil hot, and dropped them in for about 5 minutes . . .
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnTVT/Guns/Hunting/FriedRattleSnake.jpg

Let them cool a tad, and ate 'em up!
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnTVT/Guns/Hunting/EatenRattleSnake.jpg

I only cooked two chunks, as my wife is out, but I'm gonna offer her some! The really are tasty little appetizers! The day I brought it home and talked of eating it, she said she didn't want any, but . . . I think I can get her to try one! The backs on the outside have the most meat, I think the next ones I'll only cook for four minutes . . .

It ain't squirming anymore!:Fire: It's DEAD!

ETA: Well my wife came home, and was all excite to hear I was making her a special appetizer! Then she saw the bowl, and said what's that? I ain't eating snake! So I said sure you are, it's good! At least you'll be able to say you ate it! She reluctantly agreed, and ate one bite! And let me eat the rest!

[grog18b]

Next time, use silver boolits. ;)