Rattlesnake Round Up

So...I figure pretty much EVERYBODY on this site is against the boa and python ban/hunting. I was just wondering, what do yall think about the "Rattlesnake Round Up" held in Texas every year?

For those who don't know, it's where a whole town goes out and traps as many rattlesnakes as they can, then they basically kill them all. They eat some, and I guess make snake skin products (like boots, bags, etc.) with a lot of them too.

I never like to see ANY animal get hurt, but I suppose I can understand...There are a LOT of rattlesnakes around where I live and a lot of people even die from getting bit by them, so I suppose I can understand trying to keep their population down, but it still makes me sad...

Another random topic : How do yall feel about snake skin products? Does it matter what kind of snake was used to make it? (Like poisionous vs. non-poisionous)

I hate it. Whats worse is that I LIVE in Texas. I think its disgusting, going out and gathering up thousands and thousands of rattlesnakes, abusing them, killing them and then eating them. It makes me mad. Snake skin products also make me mad.

They do it here in GA too. I'm not a fan, but they have been doing it for decades. If I say they need to stop it, then I must also say they must stop deer hunting. While I personally don't like it, I understand it's some peoples things. I'm sure people that keep mice/rats feel the same way about us.

I dislike those round-ups immensely. They are cruel.
A lot of other wildlife and habitat gets destroyed while those "yahoos" collect the snakes.
Where I come from, they pour gasoline into holes, to bring the snakes out. But sometimes there are gopher tortoises in those holes, or other wildlife, and they
get killed, not to mentioned the habitat destruction.
I can see NOTHING positive in those round-ups.

I can't stand outdoor cats that mess in other peoples yards, hunt down songbirds and so on. They are a pest, in my eyes (unlike barn cats or indoor cats).
However, if we were to round em up, kill em and put them on the grill, how would that be looked upon ?? Not to favorable.

As for killing a snake, simply to eat it (if need be). Well, I eat meat, so who am I to talk. But to kill just for a good ole time, no matter what gets
destroyed, thats just wrong. And to make such a festival (spectacle) out of it, disgusting.

If there was a snake problem, there should be other ways to deal with it. Not in a public, cruel and destructive way.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zina10

I dislike those round-ups immensely. They are cruel.
A lot of other wildlife and habitat gets destroyed while those "yahoos" collect the snakes.
Where I come from, they pour gasoline into holes, to bring the snakes out. But sometimes there are gopher tortoises in those holes, or other wildlife, and they
get killed, not to mentioned the habitat destruction.
I can see NOTHING positive in those round-ups.

I can't stand outdoor cats that mess in other peoples yards, hunt down songbirds and so on. They are a pest, in my eyes (unlike barn cats or indoor cats).
However, if we were to round em up, kill em and put them on the grill, how would that be looked upon ?? Not to favorable.

As for killing a snake, simply to eat it (if need be). Well, I eat meat, so who am I to talk. But to kill just for a good ole time, no matter what gets
destroyed, thats just wrong. And to make such a festival (spectacle) out of it, disgusting.

If there was a snake problem, there should be other ways to deal with it. Not in a public, cruel and destructive way.

---

Def see things your way too...I'm surprised they make such a big deal about killing animals, but as also said before, you can't stop something that's been going on that long.

So yall think this is similar to what's happening with the pythons and boas around florida (just maybe not as public)???

I live in Fort Worth and I am working in Abilene, TX today. Its funny that I read this thread earlier today because I just had lunch with a couple Game Wardens. They were telling about rattlesnake round-ups in Sweetwater, TX (just a few miles from here) and not too far from Lubbock either. The people that come for these round-ups buy a "collectors permit" from the state of Texas. In West Texas, rattlesnakes are very heavily poplulated. These people round-up the snakes live. They bring about 7,000 lbs of rattlers to the event (collectively) where the snakes are milked for venom then skinned for meat and skins. It is basically the same as hunting deer or any type of game. Even with this event, their are still plenty of rattlers in the same areas year after year. I don't support it, but at least the snakes are used for good purposes........meat, skins, and venom for medical purposes.

As someone who hunts I don't really have a problem with killing animals as long as it's for a purpose other than trophy hunting. The whole festival/spectacle part of the round ups I find rather distasteful, but I don't see them going to waste in pits or anything, and the wild populations seem rather healthy, so as long as it's not putting them on an endangered list and it's not affecting my life directly I don't see it as my business at all

I do kinda agree with rj1204...I'm glad they milk the snakes to do some good...and yes, there are def PLENTY of rattlers to go around. I think if they DIDN'T do this, their pop could easily become overwhelming. I also can see the side that it's like hunting other animals people eat. I think I'd have more of a problem with it IF they were only caught to skin (not eat and milk as well)...kinda like what Valentine Pirate said about trophy hunting (I'm terrified of mounted animals anyway :P).

Any coments about snake skin products? Like, would you buy some rattlesnake skin boots?

Well said, Valentine Pirate.

On the snake skin products, I'd buy it without feeling bad at all, but I wouldn't want to wear cowboy boots anyway, no matter what they're made of.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ClarkT

Well said, Valentine Pirate.

On the snake skin products, I'd buy it without feeling bad at all, but I wouldn't want to wear cowboy boots anyway, no matter what they're made of.

---

Hahahaha...Well, I AM from Texas... I didn't mean just boots, I meant anything that would be made of snake skin...purses, belts, etc.

There used to be a lot of buffalo too... I'm not a fan of repeating history.

I try to avoid wearing any dead animal on my body. What I already have I will wear, but I don't add to it. So I won't be wearing any rattle snake skin stuff. I can't stand the alligator heads that they use as decorations for things.
It is good that they at least eat the meat and milk them first. I agree with that. Plus the population could go crazy like it does with deer. If they didn't kill the deer they would starve and there would be too many hit by cars. They must believe that too many snakes will hurt too many people. It isn't a problem of there not being enough food for them is it? Plus we have to remember that lots of people see snakes as an evil demon thing. So they might enjoy banishing the devil.
They did an episode on The Simpsons about this snake roundup. Lisa talks the town into believe it is wrong. The snakes were really cute in it.
On a side note, my exhusband had a rattlesnake. It was small and nasty and would bash its head into the aquarium everytime someone walked by it. Trying to strike anything it saw moving. I couldn't stand that thing. It was scary. So one night I had a dream it was biting me. So I was hitting it to keep it from biting me. It was an awful nightmare. So in the morning I get up and come downstairs to find that it is dead. Just died over night. I think I dreamed it to death. I did feel sorry for the poor thing. He just didn't want to be there and it wasn't his fault.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hulihzack

there used to be a lot of buffalo too... I'm not a fan of repeating history.

---

lol!!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lusciousdragon

On a side note, my exhusband had a rattlesnake. It was small and nasty and would bash its head into the aquarium everytime someone walked by it. Trying to strike anything it saw moving. I couldn't stand that thing. It was scary. So one night I had a dream it was biting me. So I was hitting it to keep it from biting me. It was an awful nightmare. So in the morning I get up and come downstairs to find that it is dead. Just died over night. I think I dreamed it to death. I did feel sorry for the poor thing. He just didn't want to be there and it wasn't his fault.

---

:O:O:O WTF??? That's kinda wierd...spooky. Don't have dreams about anyone on this site okay? (JK):P

If they ae using the meat for food and using the venom for medicine to help save people's lives then it's ok in my book. I do not feel sorry for the people who think they have to show off by abusing the snake to look cool before they kill it that get bit. I personally feel that they deserve it.

As far as snakeskin products go, I don't care for it especially. I think wearing fur and reptile skin is kind of tacky to be honest xD but hey, to each their own. I'd love to have a wallet from a nicely patterned snake or something, but I wouldn't want anything from a protected species.

And to clarify, I'm not for the eradication of rattlesnakes, or anything for that matter (except for maybe starlings, annoying buggers) but as long as the populations are healthy, then there isn't really a problem. Just like there are tons of deer hunted, but my dad and step-mother can easily see 3-15 every day in the burbs eating everyone's roses -.-'

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Clint Bundy

I personally feel that they deserve it.

---

Who deserves what???

The people who prance around and try to show off to the crowd before they kill a rattle snake. If you think that boosting your own ego and abusing an animal in the process is cool then so be it. You have a sad life in my book. But if you get bit while showing off then you deserve it.

there is so many ways you can look at this. we hate humans for gathering 1000's of snakes to eat,kill,skin. yet we gather up 1000's of mice to store in are freezers to feed our pets( i know most are bred to be taken) but they are still a breathing animal....... its like saying poor dolphins they get tangled in the tuna nets and die. but everyone forgets about the poor tuna who is being harvested. i think it is wrong, but as long as the population on snakes is staying where it should or rising its ok.. b/c if you take away the round up. its only fair to take away hunting and fishing. i believe it started off as a population control method and blew up from there.

Boy, if it's not clear enough after the explanation of mice for our snakes, I don't know what could make it more clear.

Well said! :gj:

Our mice and rats are BRED at breeding farm. After producing millions of them, they are then shipped to whomever uses them for whatever.

That isn't even a valid comparison. No-one goes out in the wild to flush out wild rats and mice, destroying valuable habitat while doing so.

No-one burns or gasses forests to flush out deer.

Here are some parts of various articles, all proven to be correct and the information can be verified. Have we lost so much respect for nature that we don't care how those yahoos get their snake ? And really, its for food and skins that are needed ??? For the venom ? That is just a side-show, that venom has never been purchased by anyone...

Do the deer get thrown in pits, half of them damaged and hurt, only to lay around there overcrowded and slowly dying before being slaughtered ? Are the hunters making a roadside carnivals out of the killing ??

I respect that everyone has the right to their own opinion, but I find those carnivals repulsive.

Here the articles :

"The eastern diamondback rattlesnake (EDR) is not a vicious creature. Ecologist D. Bruce Means, Ph. D., director of the Coastal Plains Institute and Land Conservancy, calls it the Gentle Ben of venomous snakes. If an animal is not small enough for it to swallow whole, the snake will rely on its camouflaged body to blend in or slither away.

According to Means, the EDR used to range widely over the Southeast, but because of habitat loss and roundups, their numbers have plummeted.

Today, snake hunters must drive hundreds of miles to find rattlers. The snakes they capture are thrown into overcrowded barrels and stockpiled – hungry, dehydrated, sick from the gas and many suffocating beneath their chums – until the winter roundups.

Gassing makes the burrow uninhabitable for years and permanently impairs the snakes and other species that peacefully cohabitate with them, including gopher tortoises and indigo snakes, both threatened species in Florida, Georgia and Alabama"


"ohn Jensen, senior wildlife biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, says that gassing is illegal. “However, it’s still their primary method. Snake hunters couldn’t get the numbers any other way. A fairly substantial skin trade market drives the roundups,” says Jensen, who is vehemently against them.

Venom extractions are heavily promoted in an effort to legitimize the roundups. Snake handlers “milk” the venom, which, purportedly, is sold for medical purposes.

Carl M. Barden is director of the Medtoxin Venom Laboratory in DeLand, Florida, which sells snake venom to six biopharmaceutical companies in the United States.

In a phone conversation, Barden said, “To be useful, venom must be produced under sterile conditions, centrifuged and kept cold. We have never purchased EDR venom from a roundup.”

One of the companies that buys Medtoxin’s venom is BTG, the largest producer of rattlesnake anti-venom.

In an email, Ashley Tapp, BTG Communications Manager, wrote that they have never purchased venom from any rattlesnake roundup. “Our venoms are purchased only from approved suppliers.”

Roundup promoters in Georgia, sensitive to potential bad press, stress the “educational and scientific value” of the roundups and money raised for non-profit groups.

Clearly, venom collected at roundups has little or no scientific value. How about education?

One of the most harmful consequences of these roundups is that children get the message that wildlife is there for humans to use and abuse as they see fit.

Varn always taught her son to respect nature, but she feels the Whigham roundup gave him the notion that killing snakes is cool."

"This tradition has outlived its original purpose and needs to end, or at least change.

One roundup, held every January in San Antonio, Florida, has evolved into a Rattlesnake Festival. Education presentations feature snakes that are not abused or harassed, the crowd is enthralled and children go home with a new appreciation and respect for vipers. The event draws 30,000 visitors and raises thousands of dollars for local nonprofits.

Chet Powell, manager of Reed Bingham State Park in Adel, Georgia, is planning a Rattlesnake Festival to draw people away from the roundup relics. Contact him if you are interested in participating or sponsoring this event."

Do you think that mouse lovers look at our hobby and just know it's ok that we buy and kill thousands of mice a month? NO. Rattlesnake roundups might be cruel and I might not like them but if they are using the meat for food and the venom for medicine and the hides for trinkets. They are using almost 100% of the animal. There are very few slaughter houses that can say that. Well I guess they can, they call it bologna.

I respect that you have your own opinion, but the fact is, the snakes aren't bred in labs and then sold, like our rodents are.

They are snatched out of nature, and the people hunting them down are destroying habitat and other species, some of them rare as is.

The venom isn't used for anything, none of the big companies that buy and use venom have ever bought from round ups. That is just a ruse to put a "formal" stamp on a sideshow carnival about killing animals.

The way they are collected is also cruel. We do not flush rodents out of the wild, injure them, throw them into pits where many die from being crushed or die of injection, disease, starvation or dehydration. Only to kill the survivors in a carnival like setting.

To me, that just doesn't compare.

But again, to each their own opinion.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tiny_tiger60978

So...I figure pretty much EVERYBODY on this site is against the boa and python ban/hunting. I was just wondering, what do yall think about the "Rattlesnake Round Up" held in Texas every year?

For those who don't know, it's where a whole town goes out and traps as many rattlesnakes as they can, then they basically kill them all. They eat some, and I guess make snake skin products (like boots, bags, etc.) with a lot of them too.

I never like to see ANY animal get hurt, but I suppose I can understand...There are a LOT of rattlesnakes around where I live and a lot of people even die from getting bit by them, so I suppose I can understand trying to keep their population down, but it still makes me sad...

Another random topic : How do yall feel about snake skin products? Does it matter what kind of snake was used to make it? (Like poisionous vs. non-poisionous)

---

The python does not belong running around in Florida, these aint BPs, they are full blown GIANTS! Now going around slaughtering them I am not so sure about, but they need to be eradicated somehow. Got a better idea?

The rattlesnake hunt, well its good for the economy, j/k. That one is a tough call. On one hand you are getting rid of killers, though most rattle snake bites occur when drunk people trying to be Billy Bad Ass! I do think they are doing good with the overall event though. Education of the danger of the rattle snake, milking, eating, even making use of the skin. 100% of this animal is being used, how can you be against that? I cant.

^^^^LMAO @ bologna^^^^

Some interesting perspectives. I know here in PA, some people round up Rattle Snakes once in a while. The people that I knew who did it, a long time ago, were herpers though, and usually released most of them and some they may have kept for personal pets.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cordell

The python does not belong running around in Florida, these aint BPs, they are full blown GIANTS! Now going around slaughtering them I am not so sure about, but they need to be eradicated somehow. Got a better idea?

The rattlesnake hunt, well its good for the economy, j/k. That one is a tough call. On one hand you are getting rid of killers, though most rattle snake bites occur when drunk people trying to be Billy Bad Ass! I do think they are doing good with the overall event though. Education of the danger of the rattle snake, milking, eating, even making use of the skin. 100% of this animal is being used, how can you be against that? I cant.

^^^^LMAO @ bologna^^^^

---

The pythons in the Everglades, not that there a much left, don't grow much over a very slender 8 - 12 feet long, which is tiny compared to the often power fed or obese Burms in captivity. Most, if not all, of the ones I've seen captured could be easily handled by one person. And there are licensed people who track down the Burms and euthanize them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HERETiC

Some interesting perspectives. I know here in PA, some people round up Rattle Snakes once in a while. The people that I knew who did it, a long time ago, were herpers though, and usually released most of them and some they may have kept for personal pets.



The pythons in the Everglades, not that there a much left, don't grow much over a very slender 8 - 12 feet long, which is tiny compared to the often power fed or obese Burms in captivity. Most, if not all, of the ones I've seen captured could be easily handled by one person. And there are licensed people who track down the Burms and euthanize them.

---

I read somewhere that the cold from the past winter has killed about half of them, mostly larger ones. It also disrupted the breeding cycle, according to the article. Another article I read shows the brums breeding with the rocks, they create a super python! I believe that article to be propaganda though. They have only found like 5 rocks in Florida. And even if they dont get a big as they do in captive a 8-12 foot snake is still a big snake no matter what you say. To the public that 8 footer is like a green anaconda! lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cordell

I read somewhere that the cold from the past winter has killed about half of them, mostly larger ones. It also disrupted the breeding cycle, according to the article. Another article I read shows the brums breeding with the rocks, they create a super python! I believe that article to be propaganda though. They have only found like 5 rocks in Florida. And even if they dont get a big as they do in captive a 8-12 foot snake is still a big snake no matter what you say. To the public that 8 footer is like a green anaconda! lol

---

Yeah, there was no super snake as people claimed.

The biggest problem with the outbreak of the pythons is that the pythons are big snakes, and so many people, unlike us, have been brainwashed by hollywood and sensational news "Stories" and phony thrill seeking documentaries that giant snakes exist to hunt down and kill people.

As far as some people are concerned, a trip to the everglades today means you're going to experience events similar to the movie "Anaconda", giant 50+ foot snakes are going to ambush you when you least expect it and swallow you whole, but not before they squeeze you to death while looking at you in the eye with sadistic pleasure.

Some people really think like that.

I saw a video on YouTube the other day called "Giant Anaconda Attacks 5 People!!!" upon watching the video I see a large snake trying to conceal itself and escape 5 men chasing after it, grabbing at it, and hurting it for no reason what-so-ever. Sadly I'm not shocked, I was upset though that whoever posted the video put the title backwards. It should have read "5 People Attack a large snake". The world may never work like that though.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Valentine Pirate

As someone who hunts I don't really have a problem with killing animals as long as it's for a purpose other than trophy hunting. The whole festival/spectacle part of the round ups I find rather distasteful, but I don't see them going to waste in pits or anything, and the wild populations seem rather healthy, so as long as it's not putting them on an endangered list and it's not affecting my life directly I don't see it as my business at all

---

Well said. As a hunter I echo your statement. You kill it you eat it. That's like people who poach deer. I get so sick of poachers killing deer just for the antlers and leave the body to rot. It makes me furious.

As far as rattlesnakes are concerned, there are rattlers here in Missouri but you don't see them a lot. There's no concern for a round up.

Yea I saw a preview for an upcoming episode of TLC's BBQ Pitmasters and it showed them having a bbq comp w rattle snakes. It disgusted me but i got no sympathy when I showed concern in a post under herp broadcast.... But im still very disgusted by it.

This is a horrible practice which absolutely should not be permitted in this day and age. It involves cruelty to animals on a large scale, encourages ongoing habitat destruction, and reduces the numbers of a species that ISN'T being well-tracked. Rattlesnakes aren't so prolific that they can withstand this type of continuous hunting pressure. Removing such an important predator from the environment raises the rodent population...and rodents certainly do kill people. In that area, they carry Hantavirus.

The rodents our snakes eat are domesticated animals that are raised for this purpose. They are livestock, not wildlife.

I have no problems if people want to raise rattlesnakes in captivity, and put on a big show with them that way...except that they won't, because it takes years to grow a rattlesnake to maturity, and it would be too expensive, see...

It's not ban/hunting, by the way. They're completely separate issues. I have no problem with hunting Burms in the Everglades, and turning them into boots. They don't belong there.
I have big problems with them decimating the native rattlesnake species in Texas to make boots and torture the poor animals.

wonder why PETA aint got involved they are suppose to care about all animals

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ice#1

wonder why PETA aint got involved they are suppose to care about all animals

---

I know right?

I guess they couldn't find anyone to go undercover and abuse rattle snakes for their infomercials, maybe its too dangerous? :snake:

they probably dont see rattlesnakes as animals:(

For the most part i see this as a double edged sword. We as snake keepers see this event as disgusting and barabaric because people are killing snakes. on the other hand people who keep or like mice/rats/rabbits see our feeding of their "pets" to our pets as barbaric. so i see both sides points. i don't like that so many snakes are killed but at least it isnt senseless killing, they do use the snake meat/skin.

i would prefer if they mabye relocated at least some of the snakes as opposed to killing them all.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tiny_tiger60978

I figure pretty much EVERYBODY on this site is against the boa and python ban/hunting.

---

Wrong-o. It's got my full backing, no reason that someone shouldn't be allowed to kill invasive species.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tiny_tiger60978

I never like to see ANY animal get hurt, but I suppose I can understand...There are a LOT of rattlesnakes around where I live and a lot of people even die from getting bit by them, so I suppose I can understand trying to keep their population down, but it still makes me sad...

---

Rarely do venomous snakebite deaths in the US top 10 per year. They are an extremely low-risk danger, and I never support reducing a native animal population because of the danger it poses to people. Rattlesnake roundups are an attack on native species and a glorification of pain and suffering. This is not equatable to hunting pythons and boas.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tiny_tiger60978

Another random topic : How do yall feel about snake skin products? Does it matter what kind of snake was used to make it? (Like poisionous vs. non-poisionous)

---

I have no more of an issue with snake skin products than I do leather loafers.. as long as the snakes are farmed humanely.

Quote:

---

Another random topic : How do yall feel about snake skin products? Does it matter what kind of snake was used to make it? (Like poisionous vs. non-poisionous)

---

i guess that so long as the animal is farmed for a specific purpose than there is no true harm done, though im not a fan of snake products, i find it hypocritical for people to have an unjustified fear of snakes yet walk around with 1 on their boots...