Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-08-17
WHOLE NUMBER 1906.
RATTLESNAKE DIET.
A SINGULAR CRAVING OF THE
HUMAN STOMACH.
Mr.. Howard, Of Kentucky, Eats
Rastlesnakes tn Preference to
Any Other Flesh and Has Eaten
Them for Years-A Custom which
Makes the Flesh Crawl.

Rattlesnakes i'm Preference I,
Any Other Flesh and Has Eater
Them for Years-A Custom Which
Makes the Flesh Crawl.
New York World.
John Henry Howard, OF Kentucky
eats rattlesnakes. He says there is n,
finer delicacy than a juicy rattler i
we'll cooked. Mr.. Howard, who live
on Spy Run Greek, near Voncebura
KY, will therefore never go hungry q.
long as he retains his cunning in
capturing the reptiles and his recipe
for doing them to delicious brown.
Mr.. Howard has been eating rattle.
snakes for about ten years. Possibly
this accounts for his fine robust ap-
pearance and general good health, and
in measure for the fact that he
weighs 22O pounds. To a World
correspondent who asked him to tell
how he acquired this strange liking
for rattlesnakes, he said:
"One of my uncles told me he had
heard of people eating rattlesnakes, so,
out OF curiosity, I thought I'd try one
The woodsin the section where 1 live
has been full OF snakes. The next
day after had been told snakes was
good, started out on hunt for a
rattler. wasn't long in findin' one.
l hammered his head off, took him
home, skinned him, and soon had him
in the fryin' pan.
"My mother and sisters wouldn't
stay in the house while Was a.cookin'
on the thing, but couldn't help that.
After the serpent was done, / took
him out, put him on plate, peppered
him over, sloshed little vinegar on
him an went to work. My stomach
kinder bumped up in protest At the
first bite, but on the second it quieted
down and received the thing with evi-
0enC eatlsIactlOn.
"The next day l had another
serpent under my belt. and the day
after that, and so on. until I formed q
perfect passion. for snake fries. Thar
amt no food on earth that's any better
than fine, fat, well-fried rattlesnake.
"Young rabbits is good, squirrels is
toothsome. quails is awful nice, young
chickens is not to be sneezed at-but
none of 'em has any chance with me
If can git big, fat rattlesnake. The
rattler's flesh looks a good deal like
chicken, and when it is fryin' the
odors of it is exactly like young chick
ems fryin'. I tell you, you won't
never know first-class eatin' until ye
Parn, like me, the glories of q rattle
snake feast.
"How do you catch them?"
"With forked stick. You see, in
capturing snakes for the table you
must be very keerful ter keep 'em from
bitin' themselves. So I take . forked
stick about five feet long, an when /
find my prey, with = short, quick
move I fasten the fork across his
neck, about An inch from his head.
then hold him firmly with my left
hand and with my right stoop down
and cut his head square off.
"Where do find most of 'em? Oh
in bark piles. My part Of the coun try
is q great tan-bark country. In q
month or so after the bark is peeled
and corded you'll find a rattler or two
in every pile. Do do without snakes
in the winter? Oh, no; not much ]
don't.
"Durin' the summer season l lay
by stores for winter. I catch scores
and scores of the serpents, skin 'em
and dry 'em, and prepare them fol
winter jest the same as others would
store away their winters bacon. Catch
me goin' hungry in the winter for the
want of q snakel Not much! I'm
no grass-hopper to dance through the
summer and starve when the winter
time comes.
"Did you ever try eating any othel
snakeT
"Yas; tried . copperhead-ont
bite. That done me from then til
now. It made me sick. Whew!
don't like ter think about that 'ar!"