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Paul Kalich | profile | all galleries >> Galleries >> Rattlesnake Roundup Sweetwater Texas 2009 tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Rattlesnake Roundup Sweetwater Texas 2009

I went back to the Rattlesnake Roundup this year and not much has changed over the past two years but some of the people doing the snake prep were women/girls this time and there were a few other differences. The weather was cool, mid 30's, and wet so the snakes were a bit more sluggish and the outside vendors had few visitors the day that I was there (It did finally warm up to the 50's on the last day of the event). More snakes are killed by cars and trucks on roadways in the area than are collected by the Rattlesnake Hunt each spring. They have been doing this for 50+ years and the population is still quite large in the area.
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The Snake Prep Table, the heads have been removed
The Snake Prep Table, the heads have been removed		 Even though the bodies have no heads they move around and try to strike
Even though the bodies have no heads they move around and try to strike		 GD3P0566.JPG
GD3P0566.JPG		 The tape is put over the snakes anus so that the body doesn't defecate on the skinner
The tape is put over the snakes anus so that the body doesn't defecate on the skinner		 Slitting the body to remove the organs
Slitting the body to remove the organs
GD3P0569.JPG
GD3P0569.JPG		 Female found with eggs
Female found with eggs		 GD3P0571.JPG
GD3P0571.JPG		 GD3P0572.JPG
GD3P0572.JPG		 GD3P0573.JPG
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GD3P0574.JPG		 Rattlesnake eggs, the eggs stay inside the females and hatch internally so the snakes give live birth
Rattlesnake eggs, the eggs stay inside the females and hatch internally so the snakes give live birth		 Not sure but heard that each of these capsules would develop into two snakes
Not sure but heard that each of these capsules would develop into two snakes		 GD3P0577.JPG
GD3P0577.JPG		 Skins are prepared
Skins are prepared
Rolling up the skins to be sold to the buyers
Rolling up the skins to be sold to the buyers		 GD3P0580.JPG
GD3P0580.JPG		 Sweetwater Rattlesnake 2009 017.JPG
Sweetwater Rattlesnake 2009 017.JPG		 Sweetwater Rattlesnake 2009 018.JPG
Sweetwater Rattlesnake 2009 018.JPG		 Sweetwater Rattlesnake 2009 019.JPG
Sweetwater Rattlesnake 2009 019.JPG
Sweetwater Rattlesnake 2009 020.JPG
Sweetwater Rattlesnake 2009 020.JPG		 Sweetwater Rattlesnake 2009 021.JPG
Sweetwater Rattlesnake 2009 021.JPG		 GD3P0581.JPG
GD3P0581.JPG		 GD3P0582.JPG
GD3P0582.JPG		 Sweetwater Rattlesnake 2009 029.JPG
Sweetwater Rattlesnake 2009 029.JPG
Some of the Largest Examples
Some of the Largest Examples		 This snake stayed in this strike pose for several minutes-thank goodness he was behind plexiglass
This snake stayed in this strike pose for several minutes-thank goodness he was behind plexiglass		 Vendor
Vendor		 Marine Recruiter
Marine Recruiter		 Announcer
Announcer
Looking at the chopping block, the black container had snake heads in it
Looking at the chopping block, the black container had snake heads in it		 Taking a break at the butchering station
Taking a break at the butchering station		 GD3P0599.JPG
GD3P0599.JPG		 This Gentleman gave a lecture about the snakes and other types about every 15 minutes
This Gentleman gave a lecture about the snakes and other types about every 15 minutes		 GD3P0606.JPG
GD3P0606.JPG
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Guest 02-Mar-2011 19:57
I'm not a herpetologist or anything like that, but I'm just going off from my love of snakes. I've always known about the roundups when I was younger, but never really KNEW about them. I was never ever afraid of snakes either. I came to college and found someone who had a passion for snakes, and because of him sharing that with me, my passion grew for them as well. This....this is so horrible. This roundup is cruelty to the max. These people, these hicks, have no open mind and no understanding of what they are putting these snakes through. You think this is fun?

I don't understand any of this. This is just a selfish act if you ask me. Oh, just because these snakes, especially crotalus are dangerous and harmful, we are just going to slaughter them all. And for what? To make YOU feel safe? You might as well have a dog roundup, since they, too, are "over populated" and actually kill more people a year than snake bites. But no, I don't see us slaughter and skin dogs. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love dogs.

These "Pitt" pictures? OMG, I would LOVE to find that many crotalus in the wild! That is my all time favorite thing to do, is hike and herp. Finding a rattlesnake is probably the best experience I can ever have. Because I understand them. We aren't cruel, we just pick them up in the gentlest way, count scales, measure, and put it back where it was. That simple. Rattlesnakes aren't out to get us, it's US that are a danger to them. People just need to get it in their thick heads that if they don't want that happening to them, or any other animal they love, then don't do it!
Guest 09-Jul-2009 00:02
To Sparky.
Oh dear. Are us people who think there are other ways of dealing with rattlers getting to you people who have no compassion. GOOD!.
As it is not just Crotalus Atrox that suffers at roundups and if this slaughter has been going on for 51 years and you have not made this species extinct then you must be doing something very wrong indeed. You fail to mention all the other animals that get killed when gasoline is poured into the den sights making them uninhabitable for years after. has it not occurred to you that this is why more of these snake maybe on the move.
If there were no roundups these snakes would not be on the roads as they would still be in their dens away from people. it is also people who have encroached on their land by building and detroying the habitat for their own ends while giving no thought to the wildlife.
As for people wanting to be heroes I think it is you, if not why do you have to have things like the stomping contest where a rattler is put in a sack and kicked to death with as many kicks as possiable; or the sacking contest where you brave souls cram as many snakes into a sack as possiable with no regard for the injuries, pain and suffering you cause to the animals. Oh, how brave you all are.
A female rattlesnake may well have 25 live young but what you have not said is that many of these will be picked off by predators and only a few will survive.
As for taking my pick up and collecting all the snakes up; I regularly walk in the fields next to my home and there are venomous snakes there. When I come across them I back off and leave them alone and have never been biten. You could say these snakes are in my backyard and I see no reason to slowly torture them to death. I am not a hero and I am not a big brave man but I do choose to understand these creatures and act acordingly.
Education is the key and not wholesale slow torturing to death.
You said you ran over four snakes on the way to the hotel while driving at 65 mph. driving at that speed how could you tell what kind of snake they were? They could have been harmless colubridae or snakes that had been dropped, or got away from drunken idiots who had been out collecting them for the roundup and got scared. Oh,so brave.
Gravid females are yanked out of their dens and taken to roundups where they can be suffering from severe stress and dehydration from being 'stored' this offen leads to them suffering a miscarriage and even a prolapse of the oviducts. After this some of them die from accending paralysis and die in agony as their organs shut down one by one. This can take many hours, if not days.
As for rattlesnakes being over populated. Before we judge any other species we look at the ubiquitous human species in a very large mirror.
We are the most dangerous species that ever lived on this planet, far more dangerous than any crotalus species.
Sparky 01-Jul-2009 06:44
To all of you who think this is cruelty to the snakes READ THIS:

Western diamondback rattlesnakes occupy a geographic range that includes western Arkansas, eastern and south-central Oklahoma, Texas (except the extreme east and northern panhandle), central and southern New Mexico and Arizona, extreme southern Nevada, southern California, and southward into Mexico to extreme northeastern Baja California and northern Sinaloa in the west, and northern Veracruz, Hidalgo and Querétaro in the east. Most of its range lies below 1,500 m. (Ernst, 1992). However, in San Luis Potosí, Mexico this species has been found at elevations of 2,438 m (Werler and Dixon, 2000). The southernmost distribution for the western diamondback rattlesnake is northwest of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico (Campbell and Lamar, 2004).

For 51 years there has been a roundup, the roundup started because the snakes were so over populated, so they came up with a roundup and a few years later the jaycees took over. I went to the roundup in sweetwater 2 times and both times I learned a lot.

If there was no roundup and people didnt run them over on the roads, then I assure you they would probably be in your back yard, front yard, or driveway even if you didnt live in the west area. A female rattlesnake have live births and give birth up to 25 snakes per year. 51 years of roundups and people running them over and they are still over populated and for those of you who want to sound like heros and want to save the snakes from death need to step up and do something about it if it bothers you, may I suggest you bring your pickups down and gather them all up and put them in your backyard cause I do not want them in mine. I have been to the roundup a few times and I do not recall seing anyone there protesting what was going on. I assure you, if one was in your house,yard,driveway,swimming pool, by your car or in your bathtub,or near your child or pets, you first thought would be to kill it and if it lunged at you then you probably would kill it. If there were no roundups for snakes you and I would have a few roomates that rattled. At the 2008 roundup, driving back to my hotel room, we ran over 4 in the road and it could not be helped when your driving 65 mph. There are more westernback rattlesnakes moving toward the eastern areas cause of the population, if it is not controlled then you could end up with a few guests you did not invite. They are not cute they are deadly, if you wanna save the snakes you have to do more than type a few words of protest.
Guest 05-Jun-2009 18:11
looks like everyone there is having great time. its been going on for this long and still no harm to the population, whats wrong with having fun once a year to educate the people who live in the area. so keep having fun.
Brown
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