Friday March 8, 2019-Whistle Stop Resort

We had decided to go over to Sweetwater for the Rattlesnake Roundup on Friday.There won't be nearly as many people there today but most of the activities will go on. There is a barbecue cook-off scheduled for Saturday but it was better with less people.

We got there about 9:30am and were glad to see that there weren't too many people there yet. This event was held at the fairgrounds, with the snake exhibits being in large circular pits with 5' high sides and Plexiglas windows in the walls for children to view the snakes and the men inside. The snake handlers are all members of the Sweetwater Jaycees and they did a good job with the snakes.

We saw one man that demonstrated the lightning-quick strikes by hanging a balloon in front of a large rattler and inviting him to bite it, which he did in very short order. We saw another booth that "milked" the snakes of their venom. The venom is used to make anti-venom for snakebite victims and probably saves many lives. Another display was the cleaning and processing the snakes after death. (all of the captured snakes are put down) It was interesting to note how skinny the bodies are after removing their skin. When the "innards" are removed, it was demonstrated that the snake hearts continue beating for up to 20-25 minutes after removal. The skins and rattles are kept for stuffing and sale.

There was a huge number of stuffed snakes in different poses. They are imposing and frightening to many including me. I have always had a revulsion to snakes and although I had several run-ins with snakes in my career, I never had a personal experience with them, to my happiness. One of the handlers came around the circle with a 4' rattler that he allowed anyone wishing to, to touch the snake. I did touch it as well as the rattles that were rattling loudly. I must say that it was unnerving to touch the thing!

It should be noted that even thought hundreds of snakes died this weekend, they reproduce very fast. Anywhere from 15-25 babies are born at a time, so it doesn't take long to replenish their numbers.

Last but not least, we ate some fried rattler. Debbie bought a plate of 8-10 pieces of friend meat, which turned out to be mostly bone and ribs. Only small strips of meat were found and like many people have said, it does taste like chicken.

We all bought tee shirts to commemorate our visit to the roundup. It is something that was on our bucket list and we are all happy that we came.

So long.