More than 20,000 people are expected to
turn out for four days of wrangling, milking and even eating. But opposition
from animal welfare groups is mounting
Thursday 10 March 2016 12.53 GMTLast
modified on Thursday 10 March 201613.27 GMT
If you are thrilled by the idea of
gawping at a giant vat of writhing rattlesnakes, taking part in a
rattlesnake-eating competition or witnessing a beauty queen decapitate a
rattlesnake, then west Texas is the place to be this
weekend.
The world’s largest rattlesnake “roundup”
kicks off in the remote town of Sweetwater
on Thursday. The four-day event attracted
20,000 paying spectators – double the town’s population – last year, with a
bumper haul of snakes set to draw large numbers again this time around.
For a $50 weekend pass, attendees are
treated to the sight of rattlesnakes, and plenty of them. An expected 3,000
snakes will be captured from their nearby nests and placed in large pits, where
their writhing tangle of bodies will produce a cacophony of rattles.
The public watch as the snakes are
weighed, milked of their venom and then removed. The animals are decapitated,
their heads and tongues still twitching afterwards, and flayed of their skin.
They are fried up in cooking demonstrations for the hungry hordes.
Other attractions include a competition
for the longest snake, a snake-eating contest and the “Miss Snake Charmer
Pageant”. High school beauty queens are regularly on hand to lop the heads off
snakes. A gun and knife show helps round out the entertainment.
The annual Sweetwater event, held by the
junior chamber of commerce, or “Jaycees”, has become a part of the fabric of
the town, stretching back to to 1958. Organizers claim it’s not only an
economic boon for a rural area, it has helped curb rattlesnake numbers and
therefore saved life and limb of humans, pets and livestock.
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