Texas rattlesnake roundup: Why some people kill snakes for sport

[HuckleB]

In the small town of Sweetwater, Texas, thousands of rattlesnakes are killed in front of paying customers. Is it a smart revenue strategy or unnecessary animal abuse?
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2016/0313/Texas-rattlesnake-roundup-Why-some-people-kill-snakes-for-sport

"Each year in Sweetwater, Texas, over 30,000 visitors come to the rural town from near and far to see thousands of rattlesnakes.

Led by the city’s Junior Chamber of Commerce, referred to as the "Jaycees," Sweetwater’s annual “World’s Largest Rattlesnake Roundup,” ends Sunday. At the roundup, fans watch the rattlesnakes slither together in a pit before handlers behead and skin the animals. And it’s not all watching: Visitors can participate by skinning the animals and making handprints on a wall with the snakes’ blood.

The Jaycees say the event is necessary to curb overpopulation, protect human safety, and keep local livestock alive.

...

David Steen, an amphibian and reptiles biologist at Auburn University, tells The Washington Post that rattlesnakes typically bite only those who deliberately interfere with the snakes, such as professional exterminators and drunk people. Thus, the "human safety" argument is baseless.

..."

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WTF?

[joeybee12]

1. Sick phuckers...nt

[HuckleB]

3. I won't disagree with you on that.

[joeybee12]

4. Who would have thought Whacking Day on the Simpsons was a real event?

[HuckleB]

8. Ah, dang. I hadn't remembered that.

Classic.

[maxsolomon]

2. Its part of a mindset that isn't going away soon enough

Like the ranchers that want Bison shot if they leave Yellowstone, because they might have Brucellosis.

why not vaccinate the Bison? no, that'd take the fun of killing out of it.

[Xolodno]

5. The ranchers....

...just don't want them competing for grazing land, particularly on government owned grazing land they pay a minuscule fee for. Plus the Brucellosis story is BS. Deer and elk have it to.

As for the snakes...they are part of the ecosystem. They got rid of wolves in Yellowstone thinking them a nuisance. The elk population exploded to unhealthy levels. Since being reintroduced, they have been culling them off naturally...add to that, vegetation along the rivers and streams has also returned as the Elk don't tarry long enough to devour everything.

Wiping out the snakes would explode the rodent population....something I'm sure they aren't thinking about. If they want to eliminate snakes....get rid of the pythons in the everglades.

[HuckleB]

6. The wolves are needed, but the neat story about Yellowstone isn't actually so cut and dry.

It's now a big debate, actually.

http://www.nature.com/news/rethinking-predators-legend-of-the-wolf-1.14841

http://www.popsci.com/article/science/have-wolves-really-saved-yellowstone

http://www.esa.org/esablog/ecology-in-the-news/yellowstone-wolves-take-a-blow-to-their-rep/

[Xolodno]

9. After being absent from the eco-system for decades....

I wouldn't expect it to be cut and dry, its going to take decades to restore the balance.

Way back when I was in college taking Environmental Economics, we discussed the removal of the dam at Hetch Hetchy. Smaller dams down stream would be more effective at generating electricity and water storage. Of course, restoring the Hetch Hetchy valley probably wouldn't be completed in our life time.

But none the less, restoring natural areas and wildlife, helps the eco-system and makes it valuable again. Not too mention, helps out against our carbon foot print.

[Major Nikon]

7. Many years ago I met one of the guys behind the event

They catch the snakes throughout the year and release them just prior to the "roundup". He showed me a crate where they kept hundreds of them.

Many years ago I worked on a mountain in El Paso that had quite a few rattlesnakes. During the spring and fall they would crawl out from under our buildings and sun themselves. They were very easy to avoid because they would let you know when you were near them.

I don't give a fuck about their "tradition". The people who do this are just assholes.

[HuckleB]

13. Absolutely! -eom-

[AngryAmish]

10. A Feast of Snakes by Harry Crews

Loved that book.

[petronius]

11. Economically, it sounds like it is a good strategy, if the $8.4 million is correct

The population/safety argument is almost certainly bullshit, and the environmental impact is likely negative (at best neutral, I'd guess).

As far as calling it abusive, it doesn't too different in comparison to how we treat other livestock: kept in crowded cages and pens followed by beheading (or something similar). I've never been there so I can't make a judgement, but if there's an acceptable level of humane treatment for chickens et al, then I conclude the same exists for snakes; these people may achieve that. Probably not, but maybe.

Paying to participate, however, seems a bit high on the jackass scale (especially the bloody hand-print bit): slaughterhouse tourism is definitely creepy. But if there's a market for it, maybe I'll send a suggestion to our local abbatoir...

[hatrack]

12. Note to self: in future travels, be sure to avoid Shitwater, TX

Fucking cretins.