mmm-yoso, the blog, had some issues last night. Cathy had some issues by wanting to fall asleep. Kirk isn't going to post anyhow. He probably has issues, too.
Hi. I was trying to finish up the post about the County Fair last night and everything kept freezing up on me. Then it was Friday and I had stuff I needed to do. Here is the last of the post, and some general information.
Yep, the newest culinary sensation offered at the Fairgrounds.
I asked you to look at the skeleton on the front part of the grill in this photo
.
I assume all of you correctly identified it as being from a snake, and more specifically a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, or Crotalus atrox to be completely correct.
Yes, the newest food fad is rattlesnake. Farm raised and costing the owners of this booth $41 a pound.
So, since everyone is in business to make a profit, they are charging $9.50 for rattlesnake chili and $12.50 for fried rattlesnake bites (or, Snakebites) served with fried potatoes and fried jalapeño slices.
For some reason, I do not consider chili to be a Fair Food, plus the idea of eating a tomato based sauce in the heat and sun just was not right to me, so , we opted for more fried food. Snakebites.
There ended up being nine pieces of breaded fried rattlesnake and as many potatoes and only those three jalapeños.
The breading was light and crispy and the Snake meat was not too tough or chewy. There were three of us sharing all of this food at the fair and our Friend, Ms. T, said the Snake tasted more like rabbit, while The Mister said it was kind of like muskrat, better than turtle and way better than seagull.
It was not offensive to me. I did like the breading and added some hot sauce for the potatoes.
We then went in search of cooling desserts. 
Ms. T got a strawberry hot fudge waffle cone sundae.
The Mister got the ice cream square dipped in chocolate and peanuts.
I, however, still being adverse to sweets, got the "Still only 25¢" Footsie Wootsie and called it a day.
Do try and get to the Fair and maybe think about participating in some of the exhibits. It is part of our (rather large)community, but still always local.
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Hmmm- Cathy is wearing Cowboy Boots…why would she do that?
Yes, I wear Cowboy Boots. I know a little bit about rattlesnakes. They appear in my back yard every year about this time.
I would like to show you why farmed raised rattlers cost so much. Basically they are larger since they do not have to forage for their meals. Wild rattlesnakes do grow and gain a rattle about every year, but are constantly looking for food and are more likely to be smaller/leaner overall. Being farm raised and not having to slither all over looking and hoping for food makes you lazy and fat (remember this the next time you are sitting in a Drive Thru lane).
I know this about snakes. Because, as I said, they show up in my yard every year.
Here are the skins I preserved from two of the five rattlers I killed (no, not The Mister -me- I killed five rattlers) in 2005. You will notice the rattle in the photograph is 13 in number. Not his lucky year.
If I was not wearing Cowboy Boots, I would be permanently scarred by that one big boy; when I put the shovel on his neck, he really whipped around and hit my calf.
Here are my boots, and the rattler who died this past Sunday- June 17, 2007. Only 7 rattles.
As you noticed, you don't eat the skin. You save it. Also, you have to bury the head. You don't want it to be left out, even in the trash. Yellow jackets will eat the whole head, including the poison sac, and then if those same yellow jackets go out and sting you, well, you get the venom. You should just call your local Fire Department, on their non-emergency line and they will come out right away, kill the varmint and dispose of him properly. They will ask if you want to keep the snake and his skin. You could. Here is what you do with it. 
First, nail each end onto a board, belly up. (This is a Cedar fence board from Home Depot, it costs about $1.67; if you buy a "Cedar Plank" for cooking salmon on the grill, it is one of these boards cut into 4 pieces)(it seems to cost a lot to make three cuts with a saw).
Then cut gently down the center, peel the skin off and remove the meat. 
You can really see in this photo that this snake, despite being older, is mostly bone and not meat. It would be a bother to have to de-bone all of this animal and then what meat would be left would barely be worth your time and effort. 
Then you flatten out the skin as much as possible and pour salt over the whole skin, to aid in the drying out. I leave it in the sun for at least a week. The one from this past Sunday is still there.
After the skin is dry, you do not want it to get hard and brittle or it will fall apart in a few years. Rinse off the salt and then coat the skin daily with glycerin (sold in the Pharmacy Department of most stores) for about another week will preserve the skin and keep it pliable for years to come.
That's it. Hope everyone has a nice first Summer weekend. Enjoy the Fair.