Rattlesnake Meat.....Pretty Tasty!

We happened to be down at the Southern Compound last weekend for our annual family reunion.  One evening, on a ATV ride with my wife, I ran into a  4ft Pygmy Diamond Back Rattlesnake.  Usually, I would let her go, but I had 12 grandchildren just about 300 yards away, and to me, that is getting a little too close.  So, I pulled out the trusty .45 XD, and at about 30 feet and one shot, I separated her head from her body.  After skinning, and gutting, we decided to fry up some rattler meat.  Everyone got a taste, even the little ones.  We decided it tasted a little like a cross between chicken and calamari.  We boned it, and fried it up with just butter and a little salt so that we could taste the real thing.  It was tasty.

I find as things are beginning to change in our society, mental preparedness is as important as physical preparedness is.  So I start young with my family.  People may be squeamish about eating different foods.  Might as well get over the squeamishness now as to add more stress later when we will already be stressed to the limit then.

I have added a couple of articles I found that talk about preparation and recipes for Rattler.


Rattlesnake meat is a southwestern delicacy. If you haven't ever eaten rattlesnake, you are in for a real treat. No, it doesn't taste like chicken! It has a much gamier flavor - much more reminiscent of pheasant, frog legs, alligator, or even elk.
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.) call for the snake to be cut into pieces and cooked with the bones.
Using the snake meat in chili or other dishes where the meat is blended into the dish calls for removing the bones. This can be done by simmering the snake carcass for an hour in a pot of water with some lemon juice and maybe a little bit of spices. Then the meat will come off the bones easily. Be sure to taste it before mixing it in with the other ingredients!
Here is an easy-to-make recipe for Rattlesnake Chili:
1 large onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 jalapeno peppers, chopped
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz. can tomato paste
1 28 oz. can chili beans
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2 lb. rattlesnake meat
juice from 1/2 lemon
Simmer rattlesnake in water and lemon juice for 1 hour, remove and separate meat from bones. Combine de-boned meat with the rest of the ingredients in a crockpot and slow-cook for 6-8 hours, or bring to boil in large cooking pot and simmer for 2 hours.
Rattlesnake meat, besides being a widespread Hispanic folk remedy in its dried form, offers itself in an array of recipes. From rattlesnake fajita pitas to deep-fried and served with coleslaw, this disreputable reptile plays a significant part in the world of what we here in America consider exotic cuisine.
The Sweetwater, Texas annual Rattlesnake Roundup may be the catalyst that launched the popularity of rattlesnake meat in the U.S., but in actuality, rattlesnake meat gets consumed worldwide. Some cultures prize it as a delicacy, and it’s believed in certain Asian cultures to literally “warm the heart” when eaten.
The Texas event, arguably the world’s biggest cultural advertisement hawking the reptile’s meat, began in the 1950s and since its inception has harvested nearly a quarter-million pounds of rattlesnake meat. From barbecued to the main meat ingredient in chili, rattlesnake meat rakes in both tourist and local Sweetwater residents’ money like nothing else.
Rattlesnake meat – whether consumed as a delicacy or as a novelty – should never be eaten raw, even when offered dried. Raw rattlesnake meat carries rare, yet potentially deadly parasites and has been documented to infect humans with salmonella bacteria so thorough cooking is imperative.
Easier to find on Internet Web sites than in local grocery stores or markets, rattlesnake meat most often comes canned. Some sellers offer it dried. But to get it fresh, one most probably needs to brave the wilds of some place as hot and arid as the West Texas panhandle and kill it one’s self.
When asked how it tastes, many rattlesnake meat eaters respond, “Just like chicken!” So, with that in mind, it’s only reasonable to assume cooking rattlesnake meat would be the same as cooking chicken. As nearly all rattlesnake cooks proclaim, “It’s the catching that’s the hard part.” So for those to whom catching and cleaning a rattlesnake comes easy, here’s a recipe for the eating that comes afterward:
After cutting off the head, skinning and thoroughly washing, cut rattlesnake meat into three-inch pieces. Roll in a mixture of flour, cracker crumbs, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Deep-fry ‘til golden brown at medium-high heat. Serve with French-fried potatoes, coleslaw and plenty of ice-cold beer on the side. Enjoy!