Our family recently had a very West Texan experience. Last weekend it was time for the World's Largest Sweetwater Rattlesnake Round-Up! We had heard that this was one of those experiences that you just needed to go check out. Last year Brydon was gone and I didn't want to go without him, but this year we could go as a family and with some awesome friends. Well it was quite an experience, and we have never seen anything like it. I took a bunch of pictures and have some videos.
But a small warning.....you are entering the world of Rattlesnakes!
Click on any pictures you dare to take a closer look at.
The Safety & Handling Pit
This is the safety and handling pit. The pit is full of snakes while the handler talks about snake safety. A bit of irony.
My two handsome boys!
Free face painting with our friends.
The Milking Pit
This is short video of the milking process. They just pull the snakes out of the barrel, milk them, show them around a bit, and then throw them down on the ground. Apparently it takes about 10 days for the venom to come back. However, they do not take all the venom in a milking.
Milking the Rattlesnake
We were able to touch a live Rattlesnake's Rattle while it was shaking. Caleb wasn't to sure he wanted to touch it.
The Skinning Pit
I didn't know it was possible to feel sorry for a Rattlesnake, but this particular pit can make you feel pretty sorry for a Rattlesnake. It is a rather gory process.
These teenagers were very busy and jumped right into the process. After the heads are chopped off, the snakes are tied to strings where they are then gutted and skinned. Snakes are very interesting. They are like chickens and even with the head removed, their bodies and heads continue to move. During the skinning process, the bodies move around and even without skin it keeps moving. Who knew!
If you are interested, you can watch the process pretty much from beginning to end.
Rattlesnake meat that is still moving!
For $20 you could skin your own rattlesnake and keep the skin. When you were done you could dip your hand in the rattlesnake blood and put your hand print on the wall and sign it. We decided to pass on that experience.
A behind the scenes view of the pit.
The Weighing Pit
This is where the snakes are first stored after being rounded up. The pit is full of snakes and boy did it smell terrible! Reminds you a bit of Indiana Jones.
Wouldn't you like to be this man. Just hanging out and chatting with his buddies.
This is where the snakes are actually weighed. There is a competition between round-up teams and so awards are given for the largest snakes. Apparently you can pay to go out and round up your own snake or just take a tour to watch others. Miss Snake Charmer gets to help in the weighing process and after they are weighed, she gets to grab the snake and pose so beautifully. I am not sure what it takes to be Miss Snake Charmer, but you most definitely have to be be comfortable with snakes.
The kiddos having a little snack.
Rattlesnake Meat
We had to try rattlesnake meat. It came fried in these small strips. We were ready to take a big bite, but learned quickly that it wasn't that easy. It was not de-boned.
If you pick the meat along the sides of the backbone,
you get this tiny piece of meat! Tasted fine but just not much to try. You can get a case of rattlesnake meat for $50 a pound.
So we experienced our first Rattlesnake Round-Up. There is a good chance it will probably be our only.
We did not pick up any of these awesome souvenirs. But if you are into snakes you could pick up a rattlesnake head in a jar or dried in a bag, rattlesnake teeth earrings or a rattle necklace. The snake skin was popular and you could just hang it up or get a wallet. I have to admit that they at least use every part of the snake. My favorite thing was a real turtle shell with a rattlesnake head and a rattle as a tail. Didn't get a picture and didn't buy it but it was quite creative.
You are welcome to come check it out next year in March if you want to.
It is truly a Texan Experience!
No comments:
Post a Comment