Post by Scot Yancey, Admin on Jan 31, 2014 8:43:44 GMT -7
Back before he died my grandpa Yancey used to trap mink and hunt in the hills of Northeast Arkansas. He made a living at trapping mink. And my dad was a hunter, but since I grew up with my mom and not my dad I never really got to go hunting. Even on my mom's side of the family my uncles and my granddaddy Burns were deer hunters. My dad would go out hunting when he could. One day when I was visiting my dad for the summer in Tennessee he wanted me to help him train his puppies to pick up the scent of a squirrel. He tied this dead squirrel to a rope and said "Here, drag this down that road and stop about a hundred yards out. Then I'll let the puppies go." Well, I did what he told me and drug that dead thing down this old dirt road and then stopped about as far out as he told me to. When I got there he let the puppies go. They didn't care about trying to catch the scent of anything. They just ran down the road because they saw me standing down there holding this rope tied onto a dead squirrel. So when the puppies get down there they are all happy and running around and jumping up on my leg and all that. A little irritated my dad walks down the road to where I'm standing. When he gets down there is said "Son, don't move. don't look down." So I look down. Right down there between my feet is a 53 and a half inch timber rattler right there between my feet. I'm thinkin what I can't say because my dad is standing there. But he picks up this big stick, or small log, and smashes it's head. I didn't waste any time getting outta there either, dogs in tow.
So my dad gets back up to the truck with this dead snake in one hand, and dead squirrel tied to a rope in the other hand (cause I left it where I dropped it when I took off for the truck, personally I think he should have left it where it was when I dropped it) and puts the snake in a bag and puts it in the cab with us. I have no clue what happened to that squirrel or the rope because I didn't see it again after that. He puts the dogs in the back of the truck and we head home. When we get home he gets some things ready and skins the snake and cuts off the rattles. There were 13 of em. He ended up tanning the snake skin. The snake he gutted and then cut into lengths of about six or seven inches. He told me a guy he worked with ate rattle snake and would like to have some of that meat.
So the point of this whole story is to lead to a question. I know there are bull snakes and rattle snakes in the SLV. I just wonder if anyone has ever tried to trap em, skin em and cook em? And if so, how did it taste? I know people eat them but I never have so I was just curious.
So my dad gets back up to the truck with this dead snake in one hand, and dead squirrel tied to a rope in the other hand (cause I left it where I dropped it when I took off for the truck, personally I think he should have left it where it was when I dropped it) and puts the snake in a bag and puts it in the cab with us. I have no clue what happened to that squirrel or the rope because I didn't see it again after that. He puts the dogs in the back of the truck and we head home. When we get home he gets some things ready and skins the snake and cuts off the rattles. There were 13 of em. He ended up tanning the snake skin. The snake he gutted and then cut into lengths of about six or seven inches. He told me a guy he worked with ate rattle snake and would like to have some of that meat.
So the point of this whole story is to lead to a question. I know there are bull snakes and rattle snakes in the SLV. I just wonder if anyone has ever tried to trap em, skin em and cook em? And if so, how did it taste? I know people eat them but I never have so I was just curious.
