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From: harrism@aquila.rtp.dg.com (Mike Harris)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: Pack Gun
Message-ID: <35843@mimsy.umd.edu>
Date: 20 Jun 91 14:39:47 GMT
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Organization: Data General Corp., Research Triangle Park, NC
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In article <35823@mimsy.umd.edu>, magnum@mimsy.umd.edu (News Moderator) writes:
|> 
|> In article <35746@mimsy.umd.edu> macklin@garnet.berkeley.edu (Macklin Burnham) writes:
|> #In article <35656@mimsy.umd.edu> ke4zv!gary@gatech.edu (Gary Coffman) writes:
|> ##
|> After cutting off his head and rattle my SO wanted to look at his fangs.  
|> I figured OK.  Reaching down I grabbed the head behind the jaw to push
|> his mouth open.  SNAP!  He almost got me!  I guess that was a dumb thing
|> to do.  If you do kill one of these critters, don't mess with his head.

	I used to hunt them as a youngster. When we cought one, we'd have
	a cookout party that night.  Fun.

	Anyway, if you *are* going to handle the snake after killing it,
	be sure to sever the head. Their heart muscles keep going for hours
	even after their head has been severed. When we didn't have a bag
	for them we'd just carry them. For a small kid, it was tough to keep
	ahold of the (decapitated) rattler as it squirmed. When we'd skin them,
	sometimes hours later, their heart would still be beating. Getting
	a bite is a *very* real possibility.

	If you must have fangs, let the head sit for a while and then, with
	gloves, carefully dissect the mouth. Remember, even if it's dead,
	if it snapped (or someone startled you), you could puncture yourself
	and then accidentaly squeeze the poison gland - administering a 
	much larger dose then you might ever get from a live snake.

	The meat, btw, is quite good. I'd suggest, howver, that it's safer
	to get snake soup at a Chineese restaurant.

Mike Harris - KM4UL                      harrism@rtp.dg.com
Data General Corporation                 {world}!mcnc!rti!dg-rtp!harrism
Research Triangle Park, NC

[MODERATOR:  Points well taken.  Educational too -- gosh, I always thought
that snakes would only stop being a threat to you once you voted them out of
office ...  ]