Melvin (Mel) Theobald

Ed, you may be right but the French sure do. Last time I had frog legs was in Paris. And they were great!!!

I suppose you don't think we know how to gig 'em either. Did that when I was ten, just had to make sure the water mocassins didn't get us first. Know what I mean? Thought so.

Michael (Mike) Franks

Linda, you know I've been there. Are telling me that you have sampled those Jack Rabbits?

OK Ed. How do you get all of that hair off of the frog's legs?

Now, Mel. Been there. Done that. Boat, flashlight, gig, at night, snakes! Lots of snakes! I'm talking here in McLean County......not some far away jungle.

I'm sticking to snipe hunting!

Linda Bristow (Elias)

Mike:

Raised rabbits are not as tough.   I can't imagine eating a jackrabbit.

Mel:  My oldest nephew is 8 months younger than me.  We used to go frog-gigging in the ponds on the golf course.   No signs of water mocassins here!

Ed and Mel:  It just so happens that my frog leg recipe was learned from an old French lady that lived by us.

Have a wonderful day, y'all!

Linda

David Long

Cooked a Boa Constrictor once - interesting texture - all muscle.  With enough Louisiana Type 2 hot sauce, almost anything is consumable.

Linda Bristow (Elias)

David:

Please influence more people in Florida to eat Boa.....I need domestic skins for my shoes and purses!  They're cheaper!

Linda

Ed Stanfield

Mel,

Dont know about Paris. Paris, TN is the closest I have gotten so far and I doubt Ill get closer.

Mike, 

To remove frog hair, one uses teensy weensey scissors and cut them at skin level. If the skin feels smooth, ya got them all!

Lakeside pond had some great Bullfrogs when I lived there... folks were members and they had a boat on the "lake" that i fished out of at night. Once, I was out there and was hearin the frogs... didn't have a gig, so I used the flat of my paddle and gave them a hard rapp on the noggin.. Stunned them long enough to get them on a stringer. I must have gotten a couple dozen that night

It was very romantic... my girlfriend at the time was with me... she was waaaay impressed

Melvin (Mel) Theobald

Ed, not sure where the Parisian bullfrogs came from, but Louisiana might be a good guess. On the other hand they probably have their own in France. We'll have to get you there sometime.

Love to know that Linda got her recipe from a French woman. Makes sense to me.

As for the Lakeside giggin', can't imagine it was anywhere near as much fun as a rowboat on the border of Ark. and La. We were told not to brush up against a tree when we got close to shore or we might knock a sleeping snake into the boat from the branch. Still, when we got a croaker, the rule-of-thumb was, if it didn't reach from the tip of your fingers to your elbow, it was too small and had to be thrown back.

Hate to think that because of Ed, bullfrogs are now extinct in McLean County.

Why does all this make me think of Mr. Mohler's biology class?

Dave, I'd love to try boa with you sometime. Of course, we'll tan the skins for Linda.

Just for fun, I thought I'd share a photo I shot in Moscow about 10 years ago. I took a bottle of tequila with a worm in it to impress my friend who was first violinist for the Shestakovich String Quartet. Not to be outdone he had been saving a bottle he got in SE Asia for a special occasion and, of course, we had to open it. Take a close look, green snake, cobra and who knows what else? It's amazing I'm still alive. Obviously he won the contest for strangest drink.

Helen Nicolaysen (Thompson)

Ewwwwwwwwwwww!

Michael (Mike) Franks

Mel, I've been sitting here trying to formulate a response to that pic. I'don't have enough words in my vocabulary! We have all had our adventures over the years, but that wins THE PRIZE!

I like to read action, adventure, spy, intrigue, murder, fiction novels. I have never read anything close, to a bottle of hootch, with a cobra in it. I guess that is beyond fiction.

Steve Frankeberger

Mel

Judging by the looks of the guy that drinks it all the time, I would surmise it makes ones hair grow and thicken.

Steve

David Long

The Boa was crawling across our perimiter - 3 Marines fired a total of 50 or so rounds at it - it stopped and I thought it was surely dead - but when I walked up to it, it was just PO'd and wrapped itself around my legs - fortunately I wasn't carrying an M16 and had my 45.  I shot it in the head and it gave up.  Out of the 50 rounds, there were only 6 holes in the body - no one had hit the head.  In the guys defense, they were shooting at a moving snake, on the ground, from about 75 feet in full automatic, and my shot was from only about 18 inches and straight down.  

Michael (Mike) Franks

Wow! 50 rounds spent, 6 hits? That's a lot of bang.

I'd of thought the ARVN's would have caught the snake, an used it to flavor their rice. What did your C.O. say about all of that spent ammo? We had to keep track of ours.

Melvin (Mel) Theobald

I'm sorry Helen, I forgot how sensitive you are to things like snails and caviar. I'll to be more careful about what I post in the future. I have to admit, it was fun seeing the "Ewwwwwwwwww!" word again.

Steve, I'm sorry to say it did nothing for my hair. But it sure did keep me awake for a while.

Mike, I too was wondering about all those wasted rounds. Seems like they might have been better used on the battlefield. Must have been one of the most expensive meals Dave had while in the Marines.

I have nothing more to say about this, except the guy in the photo is one of best violinists I've ever heard. At 75 he still plays like a master, so obviously it didn't seem to bother him as much as it did me. I'll have to ask him if he ever finished the bottle. Still makes me queezy. Helen is right.... Ewwwwwwwww!

David Long

50 rounds wasn't much, especially since we were in a secure area and could get replinshed from the ammo dump, and I only fired one round of my 7.  Shoot - I used to call in arty on a North Vietnameese flag that was on a little spit of land in the middle of the Ben Hai river.  50 rounds of .223 is nothing compared to 4 or 5 rounds from an 8 inch artillery piece.   Never hit it directly but did manage to bend the pole once...it was back upright the next day.  The bad guys liked to play around, too.

Mike - we didn't have ARVN in our camps - too close to the action for them.  We did have Montanyards, but they mostly had Nuc Mom with their rice.  Can't beat fish heads in red sauce to mask the smell of beanie wienies...

Helen Nicolaysen (Thompson)

David, this conversation is growing worse.......Even More Ewwwwwwwwwwww!

Ed Stanfield

Mel,

Sharing a boat with a snake is always a lively event. 

In N. Alabama on the river, frog gigging required 3 people

1 person with a light to look for frogs on the bank

1 person with a light and a pistol to look for cotton mouths... water snakes, we ignored

1 person with a gig to get the frogs.

On the occasions when a cottonmouth decided to share the boat with us, he generally had it all to himself pretty quick as we were all in the water till we cound entice him to leave

Illinois has no cottonmouths except in extreme southern Illinois along the rivers

Alabama has LOTS

Linda Bristow (Elias)

Jack:

Suppose you read about the booze with animals in the bottom.   Do I need to find some of those things and bring them home with me?

Does anyone need any Mexican vanilla for baking?

Let me know.

Linda

Melvin (Mel) Theobald

Linda, that is a great offer. Mexican vanilla is absolutely the best. It's the real thing, "Pure Vanilla" not extract. We used to buy it in quart jars for homemade ice cream, vanilla Cokes and other treats. Don't know if things have changed, but because of its slight alcohol content, it was only for sale in liquor stores.

Ed, you said 3 people in the boat had jobs, then who was doing the rowing? Last thing I would have done is jump out of the boat with all those moccasins following. Presents a dilemma all its own.

And dear Helen, you are just delightful. Guys seem to have a primitive taste for the exotic foods of the wilderness. We're all Neanderthals you know?

David Long

Helen,

I'll withhold comment then, about the Bamboo Vipers in the tunnels.  They were the reason I quit being a tunnel rat though. 

Loved the scene in Indiana Jones with all the snakes!  

Michael (Mike) Franks

I have throughly enjoyed all of the input on wild critters, but I'm ready to move on to the sharing of other adventures.

The Class of BHS '64, has accomplished a lot things in 50 years. It's fun to reminisce.

David Long

Good point, Mike.  Not all of us have had the experience and can relate.

David Long

Has anyone been to China?  We're headed to Beijing & Shanghai on Sunday.  Any travel or food tips?

Linda Bristow (Elias)

David:   My friends just returned from China.   From what they said............take a few disposable masks.   Pollution is difficult.

Linda

Helen Nicolaysen (Thompson)

When do we need to make Reservations for our 50th Class Reunion? August is full of travel and Celebrations for us and we would like to schedule our plans accordingly! Thank you in advance for allowing us to schedule flight reservations to coordinate with other plans!

Terrie Troxel

David:

Have a good flight to China … it’s way too long!

The Shangri-La hotels in Beijing and Shanghai are nice places to stay. Food is a matter of taste but I’d avoid the sea urchins and birds nest soup. Also, if there are small turtles in the soup caldron, I’d avoid those as well.

Have fun.

Terrie