Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1894-08-01
'.RIA4TLESNAKES R AS FOOD.
HOWARD, OF KENTUCKY,
~ EATS THEM
IN Z PREFERENCE TO ANY
Other Flesh and Has Eaten Them
for Years-Fried Brown.
al His FaYorite Dishs

John Henry Howard, of Ken
Ftucky, eats rattlesnakes. He says
There is no finer delicacy than 6
s5uicy rattler if we'll cooked. Mr.
Howard, who lives on Spy Run
Greek, near Vanceburg, KY, will
therefore never go>hungry as long
'as he retains his cunning in CAP
turing the reptiles and his recipe
for doing them to a delicious
brown.
Mr.. Howard has been eating rat
fesnakes for about ten years. Pos
Efbly this accounts for his fine ro-
.lust appearance and general good
fhelth, and in a measure for the
Ifat that he weighs 230 pounds.
Tea World correspondent who
fased him to tell how be acquired
It's strange liking for rattlesnakes,
Ihsaid:
| Zone of my uncles told me he
Ehl / heard of people eating rattle
lslkes, SO out of curiosity, T
thght I'd try one. The woods
lilhe section where I live has alters
Ebn full of snakes. The next day
ar I had been told snakes was
gd, I started out on a hunt for a
raer. I wasn't long in fndin'
OF I hammered his head off,
TO him home, skinned him; and
so had him in the fryin' pan.
"My, mother and sisters wouldn't
;aey ;ey in in the. house while I was
! ! Eaolsi-' .::e of the thlng,-sbu !
didn't help that. Arter the sar-
1T was done, took him out, put {
n on plate, peppered him over, {
shed a little vinegar on him an I
Mt to work. My stomach kinder =
|mped up in protest at the first :,
e, but on the second it quieted o.
wn and received the snake with I
dent satisfaction. b
|'The next day I had another sar- 81
BIT under my belt, and the day II
Ter and so on, until I formed a b.
fleet passion for snake fries. o'
Jar amt no food on earth that's NJ
y better than a fine, fat, we'll ol
ed rattlesnake. W
Young rabbits is good, squirrel sV
toothsome quails is awful nice,
ing chickens is not to be sneezed
but none fem has any chance P.
b me if I can git a big, fat We
tlesnake. The rattler's flesh or
ks a good deal like chicken, IN
| when it is fryin' the odors of 70,
s exactly like young chickens in
in. 1 tell you, you won't never tu
w frst-class eatin' until ye I'arn
me, the glories of a rattlesnake
It,"
How do yo catch them?"
With a forked stick. You see. ,,
'apturing snakes for the table
must be very keerful ter keep
from bittin' themselves. So /
? a forked stick about five feet
:, an when I find my prey, with ,
iort, quick move I fasten the =,
across his neck, about an inch oor
4 his head. I then hold him -.
ly with my left hand and with liz,
right I stoop down and cut his ho,
| square off.
Where do I and most of 'em? fu;,
in bark piles. My part of the :
,try is great tan-bark coun- w;f
In a month or so after the r,,,
is peeled and corded you'll e,1,
a rattler or two in every pile. h,,t
do without snakes in the 1
err Oh, no; not much I ~"
t.
During the summer season I
~ stores for winter. [ catch g
IS and across of the sarpents, Mo- ~
'em and dry 'em, and prepare 1'l1s q
for winter, jest the same as \ \
rs would store away their -, =, -
er's bacon. Catch me goin' l;S az
,ry in the winter for the want piu D
snake! Not muchl I'm no
shopper to dance through the lne'
ner and starve when the win
Ime comes"
id you ever try eating any T.
: snake?" l!
es; tried a copperhead-one h te,, -,
That done me from then till nooa n~a
1t made me sick. Whewl 1 ietI =, tl
like ter think about that'ar!" 10 u