Do pigs eat rattlesnakes?

[churly]

Been on my lease for only two years. The area is known for its rattlesnakes, but I try not to look for them. We also have hogs, lots of them. Wonder if they can eat rattlesnakes without croaking?.... What have yall heard?

 

[turkey killer]

i know i have seen hogs mounted with rattle snakes in there mouth like there killing them but not sure if they eat them

 

[kingcab]

I have always heard the hogs win out,hope its true.

 

[fish4thepeck]

About like I do ice cream!!

 

[I_Like_Pie]

I know that the pigs on my Uncle's farm will eat practically anything containing protein that won't run away.

 

[catjuggin]

I had a mule that would kill any snake he saw or smelled. Pigs will eat anything including other pigs , frogs, snakes..I'll bet the snake loses.

 

[spnplgr]

Hogs will eat any snake it can catch. When I was a kid on the farm, we would catch black snakes in rabbit boxes just to throw them into the hog pasture. A snake knows he is in a hog pasture and will go wild trying to get the hell out of there. He knows he is likely to be eaten if he remains in the pasture long enough to be caught.

A rattler's bite will not hurt a hog unless the bite is on his ear. That is the only place near the skin's surface where a blood vessel large enough to transport venom exists. His ear is also a major source for cooling in hot weather. The large blood vessels in the ear serve sorta like a radiator on a car or a heat exchanger in a piece of machinery that uses that technology. His cooling mechanism is very poor. That is why chasing a hog in hot weather can be fatal to him. He overheats easily and has a poor ability to cool down. That's why he loves a mud hole so much. I saw more than one hog die from overheating. I have sprayed overheated hogs with a water hose in an effort to cool them down after a chase to recapture them when they got out of the pasture.

They're mean as hell too, and have been known to eat humans. I would not turn my back on an adult male, especially a wild one. Incidentally, a domesticated hog that escapes will revert to a completely wild state in about two weeks. Once that happens, the only way to recapture him is with a bull dog that can grab him by the nose and hold him until the owner can put a rope on his leg. There was a older guy in our community who owned a bull dog that did just that. He charged $5.00 for the service. It's a sight to see, that's for sure.

 

[Fuzzy]

When I hunted, I enjoyed hunting pigs the most. As for cleaning them, it was the most vile act I have ever done. Snakes, crushed turtles, snails, you name it. I did most of my pig hunting near swamps in Georgia and the contents were as black as the mud. Probably the hunting I miss the most but not the cleaning. Give me a deers green baby food contents any day!

 

[churly]

Fuzzy - 8/7/2013 9:03 AM

When I hunted, I enjoyed hunting pigs the most. As for cleaning them, it was the most vile act I have ever done. Snakes, crushed turtles, snails, you name it. I did most of my pig hunting near swamps in Georgia and the contents were as black as the mud. Probably the hunting I miss the most but not the cleaning. Give me a deers green baby food contents any day!

Ive killed 3 pigs so far, and I found them much easier to quarter/clean than deer. Not sure why you would have to even get near the stomach, unless you gut shot them. I just quarter em out like you would a back country elk, left the guts for the coyotes. A 180 grain .300 win somewhere between the eye and ear does the trick for me.

 

[Tsuga]

Opossums can eat rattlesnakes, copperheads, and water moccasins because they are apparently immune to their venom. They will of course clean up carrion on a person's property.