The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1890-11-27
RATTlERS AS FOOD.
Somewhat Disturbing Experience on
the Great Staked Plains of Texas.

The rattlesnake of the plains is a
very dingy, short, stocky fellow broad
shouldered and stout to a degree en-
tirely out of keeping with his length,
writes d. @. in the Kansas City Star.
A specimen that has attained a length
of thirty inches can be relied on to be
a third rs much in waist measure.
had heard of rattIesnakes as the
basis of banquets, but it never came
my way to make test but once. To-
gether with a Mexican, | had achieved
that feat so much affected by the unter-
rified tenderfoot of losing myself on
the Texas staked plains, somewhere in
the neighborhood of the South
Paloduro. Losing ones self on the
plains is no trivial matter, and | put
in five futile days going about on this
desert of green velvet before | found
myself
Food got scarce on the second day,
as we were not "grubbed'' for any such
antics. and on the third and fourth
matters took very gloomy hue. Water
was plenty, but the morning of the
fourth day witnessed the consumption
of the fag end of our provisions-a
Ctil Va lOllIdlOtS ftllai SplIlt LOW IL
All through that day we starved. Not
an object was in sight-nothing but the
interminable green plain which met
the sky in all directions.
On the fourth noon | sentenced Pete
to death Pete WAS "A little villain of Il
mule on the nigh lead" with whom
had had a personal alteration a few
days before, and the marks of whose
resentful heels still bore. Pete should
die. | was getting very hungry, and
Pete looked appetizing. | fixed one
evening as the hour of his taking off.
Pete's death sentence seemed to dis
turb the Mexican very much. Manuel
had always loved him, but after Pete
kicked me nearly to the door of death,
this "greaser" simply worshipped him.
As soon as the situation began to
threaten the mule Manuel had an
awakening. Before this he looked on
starvation with apathy. but now he
began to think He told me he could
find food. He begged me to restrain
myself and not fall like a fend on poor
Amigo Pedro and destroy him. | told
him | would give him four hours in
which to save his long-eared friend.
If food was not forthcoming within
that time the miserable Peter perished
by my hand.
We stopped the wagons, and. hobb-
ling the other seven mules, turned them
loose to Craze. Peter, the unhappy,
was tied to Il wagon wheel to await his
fate. Manuel saddled one of the ponies
and rode away, casting as he did so
some verbal encouragement to his four
legged compadre, whose life he was
working to save.
Three hours had elapsed when
Manuel returned He sat brightly in
his saddle, nervous and elate. He had
saved Amigo Pedro. so why should he
not be happy? What had he brought
to eat? He proudly produced, at tile
end of his lariat, two rattiCsnakes. |
objected to the serpents, and there
upon ensued a heated debate. during
which Manuel shed tears of rage and
accused me of plotting Peters death
from no higher ground than hate. /
pointed out the meager meanness of
rattlesnakes as Wand. He declared
them a succulent and nourIshinr dish.
At last he insisted that they were quite
as .oothsome as Peter. and there lie
had me. The reptiles were skinned
and dressed and | inspected them. l
found their flesh white. firm ana en-
tirely in appearance like fish of the
same shape. There was considerable
more than looked for, too. as his
snakeship is almost all flesh Manuel
cut them into chops and outlets on the
principle that cooks adopt with eels
and fried them in the bake-kettle, first
giving them a sort of parboi in water.
ate them and found them equal to
chicken.