By Mallory Sherwood, Features Editor
Lions and tigers and snakes, oh my.
Perhaps not the lions and tigers, but snakes slithering across the West Texas landscape soon met their match as the 47th annual world’s largest rattlesnake round-up began in Sweetwater, 39 miles west of Abilene on March 10
The Sweetwater Rattlesnake Round-up, always conducted the second weekend of March, included a variety of activities for the more than 30,000 visitors who arrived, according to the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Round-up Web site.
The town of only 11,500 people more than triples in population each March, with visitors from all 50 states, Europe and Australia; Sweetwater receives national media attention from ESPN and National Geographic Explorer during the event.
The visitors could participate in the rattlesnake preview parade, Miss Snake Charmer pageant, rattlesnake round-up and the cook-off.
Vendors set up booths for a flea market; children played games and participated in activities at the carnival, and adults enjoyed a gun, knife and coin show. Visitors could also choose from a variety of foods cooked during the cook-off such as brisket, chicken, beans and pork ribs. Deep-fried west diamondback rattlesnake bites also were available for purchase.
March 11 marked the beginning of the main events as 200 Jaycees, city residents who want to be involved in the community activities, began weighing snakes at 7 a.m. The Jaycees are trained in the proper techniques of weighing, measuring and determining the sex of the snakes, and they led visitors on guided snake hunts to help bring in more than 18,000 snakes during the four-day weekend.
The Sweetwater Rattlesnake Round-up originally began in 1958, when farmers and ranchers in the area tried to rid the community of the rattlesnakes plaguing their livestock. Since then, more than 123 tons of west diamondback rattlesnakes have been turned in.
Adults were charged $6 and students $4 to enjoy the activities, but all proceeds will benefit one or more of these organizations: Boy and Girl Scouts, Special Olympics, Red Cross and youth activities.
According to the National Geographic Web site, snake round-ups also take place in Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Alabama and Georgia during January through July.
Much to the chagrin of animal rights activists, none of the snakes turned in during the round-ups are ever returned to the wild. Instead, vendors buy them and use every part of them in products.
According the Abilene Reporter-News Web site, the bones are dried and bleached and used for jewelry, the hides are sold and used as belts, the meat not used in the cook-offs is sold to vendors; the rattlesnakes are also milked, and their venom is used to aid cancer and AIDS research and to treat rattlesnake bites.
