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Skinning and Butchering Game
Bleed the animal by cutting its throat.
If possible, clean the carcass near a stream.
Place the carcass belly up and split the hide from throat to tail, cutting around all sexual organs (Figure 8-25).
Remove the musk glands at points A and B to avoid tainting the meat.
For smaller mammals, cut the hide around the body and insert two fingers under the hide on both sides of the cut and pull both pieces off (Figure 8-26).
Note: When cutting the hide, insert the knife blade under the skin and turn the blade up so that only the hide gets cut.
This will also prevent cutting hair and getting it on the meat.
Remove the entrails from smaller game by splitting the body open and pulling them out with the fingers.
Do not forget the chest cavity.
For larger game, cut the gullet away from the diaphragm.
Roll the entrails out of the body.
Cut around the anus, then reach into the lower abdominal cavity, grasp the lower intestine, and pull to remove.
Remove the urine bladder by pinching it off and cutting it below the fingers.
If you spill urine on the meat, wash it to avoid tainting the meat.
Save the heart and liver.
Cut these open and inspect for signs of worms or other parasites.
Also inspect the liver’s color; it could indicate a diseased animal.
The liver’s surface should be smooth and wet and its color deep red or purple.
If the liver appears diseased, discard it.
However, a diseased liver does not indicate you cannot eat the muscle tissue.
Cut along each leg from above the foot to the previously made body cut.
Remove the hide by pulling it away from the carcass, cutting the connective tissue where necessary.
Cut off the head and feet.
Cut larger game into manageable pieces.
First, slice the muscle tissue connecting the front legs to the body.
There are no bones or joints connecting the front legs to the body on four-legged animals.
Cut the hindquarters off where they join the body.
You must cut around a large bone at the top of the leg and cut to the ball and socket hip joint.
Cut the ligaments around the joint and bend it back to separate it.
Remove the large muscles (the tenderloin) that lie on either side of the spine.
Separate the ribs from the backbone.
There is less work and less wear on your knife if you break the ribs first, then cut through the breaks.
Cook large meat pieces over a spit or boil them.
You can stew or boil smaller pieces, particularly those that remain attached to bone after the initial butchering, as soup or broth.
You can cook body organs such as the heart, liver, pancreas, spleen, and kidneys using the same methods as for muscle meat.
You can also cook and eat the brain. Cut the tongue out, skin it, boil it until tender, and eat it.
Preparation of Fish and Game in a Survival Situation Part 2
Snakes
To skin a snake, first cut off its head and bury it.
Then cut the skin down the body 15 to 20 centimeters
Peel the skin back, then grasp the skin in one hand and the body in the other and pull apart.
On large, bulky snakes it may be necessary to slit the belly skin.
Cook snakes in the same manner as small game.
Remove the entrails and discard. Cut the snake into small sections and boil or roast it.
Birds
After killing the bird, remove its feathers by either plucking or skinning.
Remember, skinning removes some of the food value.
Open up the body cavity and remove its entrails, saving the craw (in seed-eating birds), heart, and liver.
Cut off the feet. Cook by boiling or roasting over a spit.
Before cooking scavenger birds, boil them at least 20 minutes to kill parasites.
Dealing With Snake Bites In A Survival Situation
If you live in or plan to travel to an area with poisonous snakes then if is vital that you have the knowledge to deal with snake bites.
Even under normal conditions with access to medical facilities, things can still go dramatically wrong if you take on a snake so just imagine what could happen if you are in a survival situation with no means of directly contacting medical assistance ??
It’s a scary thought so to help you guys out should you ever be in that type of situation, here’s a basic rundown on how to deal with poisonous snake bites in a survival situation.
The chance of a snakebite in a survival situation is rather small, if you are familiar with the various types of snakes and their habitats.
However, it could happen and you should know how to treat a snakebite.
Deaths from snakebites are rare.
More than one-half of the snakebite victims have little or no poisoning, and only about one-quarter develop serious systemic poisoning.
However, the chance of a snakebite in a survival situation can affect morale, and failure to take preventive measures or failure to treat a snakebite properly can result in needless tragedy.
The primary concern in the treatment of snakebite is to limit the amount of eventual tissue destruction around the bite area.
A bite wound, regardless of the type of animal that inflicted it, can become infected from bacteria in the animal’s mouth.
With nonpoisonous as well as poisonous snakebites, this local infection is responsible for a large part of the residual damage that results.
Snake venoms not only contain poisons that attack the victim’s central nervous system (neurotoxins) and blood circulation (hemotoxins), but also digestive enzymes (cytotoxins) to aid in digesting their prey.
These poisons can cause a very large area of tissue death, leaving a large open wound.
This condition could lead to the need for eventual amputation if not treated.
Shock and panic in a person bitten by a snake can also affect the person’s recovery.
Excitement, hysteria, and panic can speed up the circulation, causing the body to absorb the toxin quickly.
Signs of shock occur within the first 30 minutes after the bite.
Before you start treating a snakebite, determine whether the snake was poisonous or nonpoisonous.
Bites from a nonpoisonous snake will show rows of teeth whereas bites from a poisonous snake may have rows of teeth showing, but will have one or more distinctive puncture marks caused by fang penetration.
Symptoms of a poisonous bite may be spontaneous bleeding from the nose and anus, blood in the urine, pain at the site of the bite, and swelling at the site of the bite within a few minutes or up to 2 hours later.
Breathing difficulty, paralysis, weakness, twitching, and numbness are also signs of neurotoxic venoms.
These signs usually appear 1.5 to 2 hours after the bite.
If you determine that a poisonous snake bit an individual, take the following steps:
· Reassure the victim and keep him still.
· Set up for shock and force fluids or give an intravenous (IV).
· Remove watches, rings, bracelets, or other constricting items.
· Clean the bite area.
· Maintain an airway (especially if bitten near the face or neck) and be prepared to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or CPR.
· Use a constricting band between the wound and the heart.
· Immobilize the site.
· Remove the poison as soon as possible by using a mechanical suction device or by squeezing.
DO NOT -
· Give the victim alcoholic beverages or tobacco products.
· Give morphine or other central nervous system (CNS) depressors.
· Make any deep cuts at the bite site. Cutting opens capillaries that in turn open a direct route into the blood stream for venom and infection.
· Put your hands on your face or rub your eyes, as venom may be on your hands. Venom may cause blindness.
· Break open the large blisters that form around the bite site.
Note: If medical treatment is over one hour away, make an incision (no longer than 6 millimeters and no deeper than 3 millimeter) over each puncture, cutting just deep enough to enlarge the fang opening, but only through the first or second layer of skin.
Place a suction cup over the bite so that you have a good vacuum seal.
Suction the bite site 3 to 4 times.
Use mouth suction only as a last resort and only if you do not have open sores in your mouth.
Spit the envenomed blood out and rinse your mouth with water.
This method will draw out 25 to 30 percent of the venom.
After caring for the victim as described above, take the following actions to minimize local effects:
· If infection appears, keep the wound open and clean.
· Use heat after 24 to 48 hours to help prevent the spread of local infection. Heat also helps to draw out an infection.
· Keep the wound covered with a dry, sterile dressing.
· Have the victim drink large amounts of fluids until the infection is gone.