Tanning a Snake Skin and Cooking Snake Meat

By Judith D. Moore
Updated on January 14, 2025
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by Adobestock/charnsitr

If you find yourself occasionally having to kill and dispose of rattlesnakes, why not learn a bit about tanning a snake skin and cooking snake meat?

Rattlesnakes can be unwelcome visitors around the homestead. Of course, if I happen upon one of the serpents while riding or hiking in the desert, I let it slither on its way, but when a venomous reptile shows up too close to the house or barn I feel obliged to kill it. Even then, however, I never simply discard the victim of my defensive action because the serpents are just plain too useful to throw away. There’s an old saying about using all of a pig but the squeal. Well, I’ve learned everything from tanning snake skin to cooking snake meat to making snake-bone jewelry–how to use all of a rattlesnake but the hiss!

First, though, let me emphasize that snakes play vital ecological roles in animal and insect control, and that senseless slaughter of the beautiful reptiles is inexcusable. Indeed, commercial hunting has put some of the predators on the endangered species list. But although our aggressive western diamondback (and a number of other poisonous snakes) can be found in healthy (and even dangerous) abundance in many areas, if one of them must be destroyed–to protect your family, pets, and livestock–its carcass should be used.

But Kill With Caution

Since moving to the western desert’s foothills, I’ve occasionally been forced to kill rattlers. And, upon hearing the familiar buzz-z-zz, my primary concern is how to wield a shovel, hoe, or other handy implement to decapitate the serpent without damaging its lovely skin.

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