Comments on: Rattlesnakes, rattlesnacks

Rattlesnakes, rattlesnacks

donovan — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 20:38:44 -0800

Sweetwater Texas Rattlesnake Roundup! An annual tradition since 1958, people from miles around come to look at the thousands of collected rattlesnakes, join in the hunting, watch them get milked, killed, and skinned, and then eat them. Check out Chris Hamilton's engaging b&w photo essay.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 20:59:15 -0800

I love the sexy slither of a lady snake....

By: iamck

iamck — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 21:36:28 -0800

At least make it fair - naked, into the snakepit, barehanded.

By: Atreides

Atreides — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 21:47:06 -0800

Meh. I'm fine with snakes. I'm not fine with vicious scaley death dealers who can kill me in one bite. Non-poisonous, good. Poisonous, bad! Personal Hero: Riki tiki tavi.

By: SenshiNeko

SenshiNeko — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:39:00 -0800

Snakes on a plane, man... snakes on a plane.

By: jonson

jonson — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:50:15 -0800

photo essay link is directing to "metafilter.com/null"

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:53:07 -0800

Sweetwater, Texas isn't the only place with a rattlesnake festival. Welcome to Opp, Alabama, home of the Rattlesnake Rodeo (beauty pageant and buck dancing, too!).

By: the Real Dan

the Real Dan — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:04:15 -0800

It's the Jaycees. They're at the bottom of this. They're worse than Boy Scouts.

By: buggzzee23

buggzzee23 — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:08:16 -0800

We live in an area with 3 species of rattlesnakes. 2 of the species are left alone to do their part in keeping the rodent population under control, but we kill every Mojave Green we come across because of their aggressive behavior and neurotoxic venom. Their favorite spot to spend summer days is under the foliage of the vegetable garden and we've had several close calls.

By: sour cream

sour cream — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:26:45 -0800

Oh Whacking Day! Oh Whacking Day! Our hallowed snake skull-cracking day! We'll break their backs Gouge out their eyes Their evil hearts we'll pulverize! Oh Whacking Day! Oh Whacking Day! May God bestow His grace on thee.

By: NewBornHippy

NewBornHippy — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:38:52 -0800

Unecessary gratuituous killing. Disgusting. Texas? Must be a bible thing, but somehow, I'm not surprised. Fuck you, jerks.

By: wsg

wsg — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 00:23:09 -0800

Rattle snakes' main diet is rats. I read somewhere that rattle snakes eat about 20 lbs. of rats per year. Please correct me when/if I'm wrong. So, for all those thousands of rattlers killed every year at these roundups around the country, there are 20 pounds more of rats slinking around, per snake, per year! Thats a lot of rats. Good thinking, rattle-snake-round-uppers! Not!

By: Navek Rednam

Navek Rednam — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 00:48:45 -0800

Photo Essay Link

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 01:15:09 -0800

Unecessary gratuitous killing. Disgusting. Texas? Must be a bible thing, but somehow, I'm not surprised. As opposed to necessary gratuitous killing.

By: wfrgms

wfrgms — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 01:27:43 -0800

Jaycees = Junior Communists.

By: bjgeiger

bjgeiger — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 02:59:13 -0800

Been there, done that, ate some. And no it does not taste like chicken.......

By: Space Coyote

Space Coyote — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 04:21:20 -0800

wsg, it says that there are two other species of snake that they leave alone, presumably they would then have less competition and would fill the missing hole in the food chain left by this one particular species.

By: melt away

melt away — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 06:14:28 -0800

Unecessary gratuituous killing. Disgusting. Texas? Must be a bible thing, but somehow, I'm not surprised. Fuck you, jerks. It happens in five other states according to the third link, if people outside of Texas even read. So fuck you, too?

By: TedW

TedW — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 06:19:24 -0800

Rattlesnake roundups are pretty common in rural areas where these animals are common. They are more of a chance for a bunch of macho idiots to drink beer and show off than anything else. Much is made of collecting the venom for research, for example, but most of it is unusable because it is not collected in a sterile manner. Additionally, a number of other endangered species such as indigo snakes and gopher tortises are harmed by the method used to drive snakes from their burrows: pouring gasoline down them. Although rattlesnakes will never be the poster child for conservation, many biologists feel these festivals should be abolished.

By: bradth27

bradth27 — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 07:19:03 -0800

Unecessary gratuituous killing. Disgusting. Texas? Must be a bible thing, but somehow, I'm not surprised. Fuck you, jerks. Rattlesnakes. These are rattlesnakes - not fluffy kittens, sweet dolphins, or pretty little birds in the Congo. Rattlesnakes. Ever been bitten by one? I have - twice. I would kill and eat every one of them if it were possible.

By: TedW

TedW — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 07:42:33 -0800

Ever been bitten by one? I have - twice. Sixty-seven percent (20/30) of all bites resulted from intentional exposures to snakes...Forty percent (12/30) of all victims had consumed alcohol before the snakebite. Not to say any of that applies to you, but the majority of people who are bitten did something to provoke it, and events like these that bring large numbers of snakes and people into proximity are thought by some to contribute to the risk of snake bite, not alleviate it.

By: bradth27

bradth27 — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 08:12:26 -0800

TedW - Yes, I provoked both snakes - I stepped on the first one accidentally, and the second one bit me while I beat it to death with a shovel.

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 08:54:47 -0800

Yep. Sounds like they were out to get you. Kill em all.

By: bradth27

bradth27 — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 08:59:31 -0800

Yep. Sounds like they were out to get you. Kill em all. I never said they were out to get me. However, I do agree that we should kill 'em all.

By: TedW

TedW — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 09:19:01 -0800

I would probably bite you if you tried to beat me to death with a shovel.

By: exlotuseater

exlotuseater — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 09:36:09 -0800

Well, jeez. Stop stepping on them and beating them.

By: iamck

iamck — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 11:11:13 -0800

Mmmmmmm,sSnakes on a flame.

By: scarabic

scarabic — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 12:03:37 -0800

Yeeehaw! Done-round-us-up-some-naminals-you-know-what, den-dat-old-rattla-fuck-with-em-man, rip-up-right-in-their-skin-like-right-dat-off-they-backs, man and-eat-up-in-dat-dere-shit! Heeeeeyah! Goddam-dun-bless-dat-old-'Merica-there-man! You know?

By: scarabic

scarabic — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 12:05:42 -0800

I do agree that we should kill 'em all. Are these animals raised for this event? Or do y'all go out and gather them up, clearing the land of their pestilence? Cause you know, it's kinda dumb to breed a whole stockpile of something you think should be wiped off the earth.

By: bradth27

bradth27 — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 12:11:58 -0800

I would probably bite you if you tried to beat me to death with a shovel. If you did, I would probably continue beating you to death, as I did the snake. :) I do agree that we should kill 'em all. Are these animals raised for this event? Or do y'all go out and gather them up, clearing the land of their pestilence? Cause you know, it's kinda dumb to breed a whole stockpile of something you think should be wiped off the earth. Never been to a roundup. I wouldn't know. The two rattlesnakes that I have killed have been found in my yard.

By: bradth27

bradth27 — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 12:20:08 -0800

By the way - there's an incredible novel out there that centers around a rattlesnake roundup written by Harry Crews ( one of my favorite authors.) Check it out.

By: fandango_matt

fandango_matt — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 12:34:47 -0800

Disgusting. It's right up there with the seal cull in Canada. Go to hell, you fucking inbred cretins. Yeehaw.

By: Rubber Soul

Rubber Soul — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 12:50:44 -0800

Harmful Effects of Rattlesnake Roundups

By: Atreides

Atreides — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 14:45:55 -0800

Nah, no rattlesnakes are raised for these events. Yes...clubbing cute defenseless seals is up there with killing rattlers. ... Lets have a moment of silence for Bitey the Friendly Rattler. We shall all missssss him.

By: Tennyson D'San

Tennyson D'San — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 14:56:57 -0800

People who argue for the forced extinction of an entire species betray their total lack of even elementary earth science comprehension.

By: NewBornHippy

NewBornHippy — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 15:34:12 -0800

elementary earth science comprehension. No, remember what the bible interpretation commands. That's really where their science comprehension comes from. Fucking inbred cretins indeed.

By: teishu

teishu — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 18:50:24 -0800

i'd like to see more people bitten by rattlesnakes. and eaten by wolves. natural selection at its finest.

By: Atreides

Atreides — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 21:23:59 -0800

Newsfilter: Rattler Liberation Group bitten en masse. Quote, "We're their friends, man. We were saving them from death, man! I don't see why the @$#$#ing things had to go and bite us with their @$*#ing fangs, man!" P.S. Copperheads are stinky.

By: NewBornHippy

NewBornHippy — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 04:51:28 -0800

Wow. That's. So. Funny Atreides. Where are your humoristic references coming from? The Simpsons? Wow, I'm impressed.

By: fold_and_mutilate

fold_and_mutilate — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 08:49:23 -0800

We can only shudder at the utter terror the world holds for those with the least developed ethical sense. A snake bit me. Kill them all. Brilliant. How do you folks possibly find the time to post on the internet? Aren't there horrible ants that need genociding and scary bees that need their wings pulled off? You know, in "your" fucking yard. If I come across any rounding up or killing snakes, in "their yards" or not, I'll provide a little intramuscular injection myself, sans fangs, and despite my well-known, sweet-sunny, pacifist disposition. My boot. Injected up your ass.

By: scarabic

scarabic — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 08:42:04 -0800

If it's genuine pest mitigation, and these snakes are actually "rounded up" from residential/farm land or open space where they pose a real problem to people, then I am less disgusted by it. It's not substantively worse than spraying or trapping or many other eradication methods, and perhaps more open and honest - though it's certainly not to my taste.

By: teishu

teishu — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 14:33:56 -0800

not sure about the "pest mitigation" aspect per say (i looked for the real source of the snakes and couldn't find out), but i think that if it was infact based on pest mitigation, it wouldn't need to be such a specticle or done in such a needlessly cruel fashion. this is reguardless of any argument about pest mitigation as an ideal. no matter your opinion on that, i think its clear that these roundups have nothing to do with anything beyond making money off cruelty to animals.