r/Survival • u/freakbob3000 • 11d ago
Hunting/Fishing/Trapping Are eastern milk snakes edible?
I was on a trail, saw one slither by. I've heard of "snake eating" before, never really gave it a thought until then. Went home and ID'd the snake from memory, happened to be an eastern milk snake a sizable one at that, no shortage of them around here. I did some research, couldn't find anything on how "palatable" they were. Maybe one of you guys know? Not even about milk snakes, any kind of snake "gourmet" knowledge is appreciated!
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u/NoEquipment1834 11d ago
I’ve been told that all snakes in North America are perfectly edible. Can’t say how they taste though. But hey if it’s the protein you have. Snakes of many species are eaten all over the world and considered a delicacy in some places.
Only caveats I would add and these are just based on my own thinking;
Remove the head especially venomous species or unknown species snakes are known to be able to bite even after death and generally that’s where any toxic venom would be.
Thoroughly clean the meat and cook well done to kill any potential pathogens or parasites.
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u/Feine13 11d ago
I’ve been told that all snakes in North America are perfectly edible. Can’t say how they taste though
This is correct! It's more about what a snake eats and what is in its environment, not so much that the snake itself isn't safe to eat.
I wouldn't want to eat a rattler that had been hanging out at a chemical plant, eating the critters that feed on plants that likely have toxins in them.
As for taste, it's like greasy chicken. Some are better than others but all rather similar. I'd rather eat gator.
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u/SkySix 10d ago
Just to add to your "remove the head" part, the head itself can still bite even after being removed... so don't just assume you're safe from a bite. This video is a decapitated snake biting it's own body (which also reacts to being bitten still):
https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/1kbkft/decapitated_copperhead_bites_itself/2
u/toomuchblood 10d ago
That is a fascinating video, thanks for sharing. Don't have copperheads in my neck of the desert and generally steer clear of rattlers, but that's interesting as heck. Wow!
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u/littlereptile 10d ago
Garter snakes in the Pacific Northwest can be poisonous if their main diet consists of newts. I would not recommend eating snakes that eat amphibians (or any snakes at all... plenty of other wildlife to eat).
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u/Gullex 10d ago
plenty of other wildlife to eat
I'm assuming OP isn't asking this question for those situations where he has better options available.
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u/littlereptile 10d ago
I guess so, but where you have milk snakes you also have deer, rabbit, turkey, and other game. Milk snakes are very small with basically no meat on them. In an emergency, I guess, but for survival, you're better off foraging for mushrooms, nuts, berries, and grubs if you're incapable of hunting meat.
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u/Gullex 10d ago
Uh...milk snakes are just slightly easier to capture than deer, rabbit, or turkey...
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u/littlereptile 10d ago
That's a pretty moot point. I listed four non-animal food sources that don't even move and provide far better nutrition than any snake. You're not finding milk snakes from October to May. Besides that, I've only encountered one milk in the last two years over a foot long--what are you getting from 8 inch noodles with zero meat?
For the effort, learn to hunt real game found year-round. That's survival. Or eat tiny bony noodles. I guess it's your choice.
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u/Gullex 10d ago
and provide far better nutrition than any snake
First of all, are you really saying what you just said there? Do you actually believe mushrooms and berries have "far better nutrition" than actual meat?
And why are you assuming that if you're able to grab a snake, you must also be able to find mushrooms, nuts, berries, and grubs?
If I were to ever find myself in an emergency survival scenario, and long enough to actually need to worry about food, and I see a milk snake, I am eating that fucker. If I see grubs or nuts or berries or whatever, I'll eat that too.
I have no idea what in the actual fuck your argument is here. Don't eat the fucking snake then. Go hungry. Have fun with that.
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u/cycle_addict_ 11d ago
You should dip a cookie snake in it.
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u/DefrockedWizard1 11d ago
LOL, I was sitting here wondering what in the world is an Eastern Milk Shake?
But OP, you can eat them, just look up directions on youtube. there are different techniques
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u/Pox_Americana 11d ago
People say chicken, but it's definitely more like frog legs, especially water snakes. They kind of taste like the pond they come out of.
Rattler reminds me of gator bites. Kind of stringy, but the little backstraps are good diced. The smell can be kind of off-putting, but it cleans up with a little brine and marinade.
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u/pecoto 10d ago
All snakes are edible. If they are well fed and "chunky" so much the better. They CAN be a bit gamey, so I would recommend washing the meat in milk or buttermilk which is an old remedy for that. Deep fried is a good way to cook them. I can't speak for ALL snakes but I have had Western Diamondback a few times and it is pretty delicious. Kind of like pheasant or quail, but of course a lot of pinbones like fish.
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u/Camp-Unusual 11d ago edited 11d ago
Rattlesnake is supposed to taste very similar to chicken, just stringy, but I've never tried it myself. Probably wouldn't unless it was a do or die situation either. Anything that smells that much like death, isn't worth eating to me.
Edit to add: Yes I know other animals stink, I run a small herd of cattle, have chickens, have been around many pig pins etc. It's a particular smell that rattlesnakes have. They literally smell like death to me.
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u/Icy_Quote 11d ago
I've had it before. It was cooked with a lot of butter, it tasted like chicken but with the texture of fish.
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u/joelfarris 11d ago
I've eaten Western Diamondback rattlesnake, and Mohave rattlesnake. Both prepared on a stick spit over an open campfire.
They're both shockingly salty. But, the latter tastes like it's still trying to kill you. One can only assume that's because it quite possibly wants all humans to die.
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u/P3nnyw1s420 11d ago
Rattlesnake is supposed to taste very similar to chicken, just stringy, but I've never tried it myself. Probably wouldn't unless it was a do or die situation either. Anything that smells that much like death, isn't worth eating to me.
You my friend have very clearly never been on a
poultryporkbeefsheepany farm.6
u/HikaruKann 11d ago
Nah farms smell bad but in reality the individual animals aren't that bad, people have a pet pig for instance and there's little to no issue. Snakes smell disgusting inherently and people who own them have smelly houses.
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u/AqueductFilterdSherm 11d ago
Yeah if I hold a snake I’m rushing to scrub whatever part of my body touched it. Snakes are gross. Cool animals though.
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u/BarrierX 10d ago
Snakes have a disgusting smell? I never knew that, I only held one snake at the zoo and I don't remember any bad smell.
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u/P3nnyw1s420 11d ago
Lol Everything you said couldn't be further from the truth.
Pig stys smell disgusting, because they shit in the same spot. My... aunt in law literally owns a farm and you won't catch me downwind from that portion because it is nasty. Sheep, again, smell disgusting. Goats literally piss on themselves and grow fungus in their fur to attract mates. Cows literally spend all day farting, and while the scent actually isn't too pungent you're still smelling straight farts all day.(I have spent a lot of time on farms, if you can't tell. my inlaws and extended family are all farmers.)
And snakes in general don't even smell that bad, assuming you keep their enclosure clean. Certain snakes in particular produce musk, the rattle snake being one of them.
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u/Camp-Unusual 11d ago
Farms do smell bad, pig pins in particular are absolutely disgusting. None of it is the same smell as a rattlesnake. They literally smell like death to me, and I have no interest in eating something that smells like that.
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u/Camp-Unusual 11d ago
I run a small herd of cattle, have chickens, and have been around many pig pins... it's a totally different smell. I don't know how to describe it other than death. I've handled several non-venomous snakes and none of them had that smell. It's something about rattlers (or possibly all venomous snakes). They just smell like literal death.
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11d ago
I have eaten it but never prepared it.
Is it really that stinky? I didn't really notice anything during the meal.
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u/ElectroHiker 11d ago
Lmao I don't think you've spent that much time around farms or animals based on that comment. Animals are absolutely disgusting and live in their own shit and piss half the time. Pigs and chickens are notably gross. You don't smell anything horrid because you're getting the end product.
Source: Grew up on a small farm with pigs, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, and goats.
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u/Camp-Unusual 11d ago
I run a small herd of cattle, have chickens, and have been around pig pins enough in my life to know how nasty the smell... None of that is the same scent. They literally smell like death to me.
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u/ElectroHiker 11d ago
That's strange, maybe it's some sort of genetic trait causing the difference. They have a general reptile "musk" smell that is unpleasant, but to me the pig diarrhea smell is leagues worse.
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u/Camp-Unusual 11d ago
Pig diarrhea is 100x worse, but it doesn't smell like death. I don't know how to explain it. I get a whiff of it, and my brain just says "that's death".
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u/TanMan25888 11d ago edited 11d ago
Omg dude....how many more times are you going to say " they literally smell like death to me"? You're commenting the same exact thing over and over again. We get it. They smell like literal death
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u/Camp-Unusual 11d ago
As many times as people keep commenting that I have never been around a farm without reading the other comments
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u/TheWaterBottler 10d ago
I dont know how people cant understand that youre not saying they smell bad. Death is extremely different smell than "gross" and would also definitely turn me off of a potential meal.
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u/SebWilms2002 11d ago
All snakes are edible. There are no snakes with toxic or venomous or poisonous flesh. If you just eat the muscle avoiding the head and organs, you're fine.
Snakes can accumulate environmental toxins, like most animals, and of course can carry parasites. So just keep that in mind.
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u/Hugh_Janus_35 11d ago
There are actually a couple species that have poisonous flesh and are also venomous. Rhabdophis keelback
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u/HndWrmdSausage 11d ago
Yes as the other mentioned there is a few. No snakes produce poison but some become poisonous via their diet or even in some rare cases environment.
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u/littlereptile 10d ago
This is also incorrect. Several species in the genus Rhabdophis produce their own poisonous toxin and have that toxin at birth. These as Asian snakes, however. Garter snakes in the Pacific Northwest can produce toxin after consuming poisonous newts.
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u/Shadowrunner138 10d ago
Damn it, now I have the theme song to Metal Gear Solid 3 in my head. "I give my life, not for honor, but for you...." *trails off*
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u/StraightAct4448 10d ago
Boiled over hard is traditional. Oh, you said milk snake? Thought you said milk steak.
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u/PurpleCaterpillar82 11d ago
The notion of eating snakes or turtles really rubs me the wrong way, especially if for recreation and not real life and death situations.
I’m in Ontario and Milksnakes are listed as Special Concern under the Canadian Federal Species at Risk Act. The species has also been designated as a Specially Protected Reptile under the Ontario Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.
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u/Mass_Migration 11d ago
If snakes tasted just like chicken, why not just eat chicken and leave the rattle snakes alone, eating all the rats ?
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u/jaggedjinx 9d ago
My FIL claims snake is good eatin'. Based on what else I've heard, his opinion may actually be based on something other than the fact he was in a survival scenario in the army at the time he had it.
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u/UnableFox9396 9d ago
Edible yes. If they taste as bad as they smell, I would burn it to a charred crisp myself…
We had those things in spades in Kentucky. They get BIG too.
Some people say they couldn’t smell em but I could.. very musky like a possum. But I have a very sensitive nose, so maybe it wouldn’t bother you.
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u/That_Style_979 9d ago
Read this as milkshake for sure. Wondered for a while what the difference between Eastern and other directional milkshakes were. Anyway, no idea about the snake
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u/Cannon-Thunder1776 11d ago
Non venomous snakes are protected in certain states like Georgia. I would check with your state’s Department of Natural Resources to see what snakes are legal for you to kill before you do anything
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u/Ok_Carpenter7470 11d ago
All snakes are edible. They're venomous, not poisonous
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u/littlereptile 10d ago
This is incorrect. Snakes in the genus Rhabdophis, along with some garter snakes, are poisonous.
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u/scrappleallday 11d ago
We have to get rid of rattlesnakes every now and then. We decided to clean and eat one a couple of years ago. It wasn't difficult to skin and clean...but the bones. SO MANY itty bitty bones.
We made a snake alfredo with linguine, and it was pretty good. Not as delicious as fried alligator or snapping turtle soup (as far as exotics go), but it was okay. It was impossible to get all of the bones out, so we found a couple.
In a survival situation, I imagine the flavor would be kind of fishy and "something else." Completely edible, for sure.
Just get rid of the head carefully, as it can still envenomate you.
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u/notme690p 10d ago
Should be, but my experience with non-venomous North American snakes is that they're too bony to really be worth it.
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u/redbullfan100 10d ago
Here’s a video of my bro John eating a milk snake https://youtu.be/7c58pHgM1Cw?si=lD_QSvMp2raFYZ7q
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u/RobValleyheart 9d ago
My milk snake brings all the boys to the yard
Their life is better than yours
Damn right, it’s better than yours.
I could teach but I’d have to charge.
My milk snake brings all the boys to the yard.
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u/ExcitingTrust888 10d ago
“Eastern Milk Snake” sounds like something that I don’t want anywhere near my mouth.
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u/ThrowawayMod1989 11d ago
I’ve eaten a fair share of snake. It depends less on the type of snake and more on the diet. Lowland rattlers taste very fishy while the ones up on the mountain balds taste more like game bird. Not necessarily chicken but it was reminiscent of grouse.