Snakes on the Plains

"It tastes just like chicken!" That's what Texan folks will often tell you about fried rattlesnake. I tried it once back when I lived in Texas and I can honestly say that it does not taste like chicken.
It tastes like a snake.

Here's how it all goes down at the Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater, Texas. The snake wrangler plucks out a very-much live rattlesnake, whacks its head off, skins it with a pair of pliers and scoops out the entrails.

The skinned snake is still writhing. A lot.

Then, he takes a cleaver and cuts it into four-inch pieces which still continue to wriggle back and forth a little bit.

He dips them in batter and flour while the wriggling still continues. The fun really begins when he plunks them into hot fat.

Once they hit the fat, they wriggle really fast.
Wriggle-wriggle-wriggle!

Gradually, the wriggling slows down.
Wiggle-wiggle . . wiggle . . . .wig . . . gle. . . wig

Once it stops, they're ready.

"Ya want fries with that?"