mruggles - 2015-04-13 1:03 PM

I give you guys all the credit in the world i couldn't do it.....i couldn't even take a picture unless i had a 50000 zoom camera and was in a helicopter ....M

TessBelle - 2015-04-13 11:42 PM Photo from this weekend. Our 55th annual Rattlesnake Rodeo. The pic does not justice. I believe they said there was around 75 rattlesnakes this year.

TessBelle - 2015-04-13 11:42 PM

Photo from this weekend. Our 55th annual Rattlesnake Rodeo. The pic does not justice. I believe they said there was around 75 rattlesnakes this year.

MOGirl07 - 2015-04-14 6:33 AM


Dumb question but I've always wanted to know...how does a rattlesnake round up/rodeo work/what do you do?

TessBelle - 2015-04-14 7:02 AM


The snake handlers go out about a month before and catch the rattlesnakes. As well as other non snake handlers that want to turn in a snake for the biggest snake prize. They are kept in an exhibit for the public until the day of the rodeo. The day of the rodeo they use them for different educational and entertainment purposes. Everything is 100% humane incase you wondered. The rodeo has nothing to do with a rodeo. That's just what they started calling it 55yrs ago. It's more like a flea market or feastavle. Different venders set up to sell there goods. It's Saturday and Sunday. Both nights have concerns. This year they had Gary Allen Saturday and the Newsboys(singers of Gods Not Dead) Sunday. It's clean family fun the 2nd weekend of April every year. http://www.opprattlesnakerodeo.com

MOGirl07 - 2015-04-14 7:12 AM


Cool. Thanks for explaining. So what do they do with all the snakes afterward? That would be scary if they just released them all in one location...eek!

I giggled about the part that it's humane. I'm terrified and would be like 'kill them! Kill them all!' I guess PETA wouldn't be very impressed with me ;)

TessBelle - 2015-04-14 7:37 AM Some are released far far away from people. The rest are sent to drug labs where they use them for there venom to make anti-venom. There are several animal rights groups been trying to shut it down for years. They claim the Eastern Diamondback are becomeing extinct and that they are a critical part of the food chain.

MOGirl07 - 2015-04-14 5:12 AM


Cool. Thanks for explaining. So what do they do with all the snakes afterward? That would be scary if they just released them all in one location...eek!

I giggled about the part that it's humane. I'm terrified and would be like 'kill them! Kill them all!' I guess PETA wouldn't be very impressed with me ;)

Frodo - 2015-04-14 8:54 AM Don't some crazy people eat rattlesnake meat?

 

jbw tx mom - 2015-04-14 9:15 AM

We live about 20 miles from Sweetwater TX which host the Worlds Largest Rattlesnake Roundup, at Sweetwater they do kill and skin and fry up the meat - taste like chicken - they tell me, I have not tried it. They also milk the snakes for venom and a host of other activities. Its a huge income for the town and county and animal right activist have gotten worse every year and are now trying to get a law passed so the snake hunters cant use gas to empty the snake dens. They host the roundup in the county coliseum which hold multiple horse events year around. The smell is still lingering from the snakes for weeks and we see a lot of horses reacting to that for several weeks after they have the roundup.

Frodo - 2015-04-14 8:54 AM


Don't some crazy people eat rattlesnake meat?

 

GoMistyGo - 2015-04-14 10:34 AM We found a bull snake inside the TV cabinet a few months ago.  I guess he was planning to winter there.  It was quite the adeventure to get him out.....  I was so glad my SO was there to handle that.... 



I have no idea how he even got inside the house, as everything is always closed due to an indoor cat.

americanpride08 - 2015-04-14 10:46 AM


 lol we had a chicken snake come up through our toilet once a long long time ago, brother was in the bathroom. and another in my brothers room when rain leaked through the roof and he got in.

My brother is terrified of snakes to this day. LOL he always has a .22 on him and boy he'll kill them on site, no matter the type!

Dudette - 2015-04-14 2:07 PM At this time I wish all Rattlesnakes in the world, dead.  Last Tuesday evening, my Grandsons pony got bit on the side of the face, just above his nose.  Tattoo has been at the vet since last Wednesday morning.  In all of my 62 years, I have never seen a Rattlesnake bite.  When I found him, he was bleeding from both eyes, his nose and mouth.  His head and throat were so swollen he had his teeth hooked on the roundpen fence to keep his mouth open. 

When we got to the vet, they had to put a trach in him.  As of today, they have taken the trach and the catheter out, but had to put a catheter back in this morning because his lips are still so swollen he cannot purse them together to drink enough water. 

The vet said that had Tattoo been a big horse, he would have probably been home already.  But, due to his size and the size of the snakebite, he is having a much harder time.  He is only 49 inches tall and weighs about 800-850 lbs.  They are saying that when the swelling goes down, the fang marks will be about an inch apart. 

With all the rain we have had, they are looking for higher and dryer ground.  We 12 miles Southeast of San Antonio, TX.  Needless to say, we have not found the snake.





 

GoMistyGo - 2015-04-14 2:48 PM  Oh my - prayers for the little guy!