A few from Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup 2007-no pics in thread

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

http://www.pbase.com/demdeepellummus...e_roundup_2007
Suprising what you will learn at one of these:
Rattlesnakes are live birth snakes
The air dried venom is toxic even after over a year
The heads will keep trying to strike even after removed from the snake-for several minutes
Snakes hearts will beat for up to a half an hour after the body is beheaded and gutted
Snake Venom is being used for Cancer Research now
Snake Bodies will react to touch even after the head is removed and they will move as if trying to strike you with the head
Snake Urine is very odorous, so the butchers will put masking tape over the vents so that the bodies do not urniate over them
Snake blood probably has a high iron content because of the deep red color
The heads, skins, venom, tails, and meat are all used, never found out what they do with the internal organs but they may be used also.

More rattlesnakes are killed by cars along roadways in west Texas than killed in all of the roundups in the US

Male snakes outnumber females about 9 to 1 that are cought in the roundups, each snake is measured in length, sexed and weighed along with other observations made at this roundup.

I actually saw a diamondback strike out and it traveled over it's full body length trying to strike at this one handler so the tale about them striking just 1/2 their body length is not true so to be safe in a rocky area if that diamondback looks to be about 5 ft long you need to be a good 10 ft away to be reasonably safe. BTW THE JAYCEE GUIDE said SNAKES DON'T READ ANY BOOKS!

Snake heads even after removed will still open their mouths and try to strike for several minutes so if you run over a snake with your car be very cautious if you go back to investigate that snake can still bite and will try to bite you and be just as dangerious as a fully live one. The poison glands are in the head also so even with the head cut off they are as poisonious!

Biggest snake as of Friday afternoon was around 65 inches.

[Torrey]

Crazy stuff. Are those snakes in the pit sedated or something? How do those guys get in the pit without being bitten?

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

No those snakes are quite awake and pretty mad though the concrete floor is cool which slows them down a bit since their body temps drop to the upper 60's which makes them a bit lethargic vs ones setting out on a rock outside sunning in the upper 70 F air temp.
They just climb over the wall and drop into the pit-wait till I get some afternoon pics up when the pit floor can not be seen because all of the snakes! When I first walked up in the morning to the pit, around 9:15, there was a girl no more than 12 in the pit with one of the guys messing with the snakes.

[Joe_Lorenzini]

Those are some incredible images! The snake pit is unreal!!

I'm putting this on my calendar for next year, wow!

Thanks for the post. Your text and images really do a great job of telling the story.

_/oe

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

I have more to post still, I wrote what I did because I know people from all over the world look at Pbase and I wanted to use the event to educate people about how what even looks to be a dead rattlesnake can be.

It was a fun shoot but next year I know to get there a couple days earlier, get reservations in the handful of RV parks in town early (next closest place to set up camp is around 30 miles away) and of course next year stay through for the cooking and eating contests. May even go on the guided hunt-$75 for the day this year.

[TXhummer2]

Thanks for the info, but I'm not gonna look, I'm apparently allergic to snakes, from the reactions I have when seeing one or more!

[johnastovall]

Good stuff, Paul!

You sure you can take guided hunt and keep your eye on the viewfinder and the snakes at the same time.

Wouldn't want to lose you....

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Because some people are very adverse to snakes is one reason that I did not post any pics to this thread.

John I know how to shoot one handed where the camera is no where near my head. Yeah the only cool thing about the guided hunt is that once you cover all the paperwork you can either keep the snakes that you catch or you can sell them to the Jaycees for whatever they are paying for them by the pound. I've never been a snake person so I would maybe see if the guides could work with a couple photographers to do a safari type thing and agree that the guide could keep the snakes and do all the heavy lifting. Of course you would want to wear the leg guards and be fully aware of the critters all around you.

Now I noticed something very weird with the snakes that were on the table and out on the rock out on the bus trip, if I hit my prefocus button for a shot or right after a shot many times that snake would turn and look right at the camera lens. I actually had one that kept turning towards me even though I would step sideways up to a dozen feet and I was a good 10+ ft away from the snake the snake would keep turning his head towards the camera. I actually jokes with one of the JC guys that the snake didn't like me at all because he would keep turning to look right at me. Thinking back maybe the infared system that does the focusing on the camera was being picked up by the snake. I noticed the British Photographer, stringer for a UK Paper, was getting the same attention by the snakes when he was within a dozen feet and setting up his shots.

Rather facinating critters and I hope my post and pics will help keep people safer after reading and viewing the photos.

[rusty_tripod]

I went to the Rattlesnake Round-up back in the mid-sixties. It was no big deal. Nevertheless, just looking at those pictures now gives me the willies!! I would still be willing to try the fried rattlesnake. Otherwise, it is enough just to look and not touch.

Rusty Tripod

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by DEMDeepEllumMusic

snipped

John I know how to shoot one handed where the camera is no where near my head. Yeah the only cool thing about the guided hunt is that once you cover all the paperwork you can either keep the snakes that you catch or you can sell them to the Jaycees for whatever they are paying for them by the pound.

snipped

The last time I sold live rattlesnakes in high school they were going for 50 cents a pound. We had a hide house who bought them for snake farms. Gas was 30 cents a gallon or less and in the fall many a road trip was funded by catching them on warm black top roads at night. Our mothers would have had fits if they had know.

[steve817]

I would love to go to one of these. It seems I only hear about them after the fact or have something else going on.

[bradh]

"Snake blood probably has a high iron content because of the deep red color"

I don't understand what this is saying...
Are they trying to say there is a lot of iron in the blood because it is deep red?
Because it would make more sense saying the blood is deep red due to it being high in iron... right?

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by bradh

"Snake blood probably has a high iron content because of the deep red color"

I don't understand what this is saying...
Are they trying to say there is a lot of iron in the blood because it is deep red?
Because it would make more sense saying the blood is deep red due to it being high in iron... right?

Does it matter? It is supposed to give your libido a lift.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Originally Posted by bradh

"Snake blood probably has a high iron content because of the deep red color"

I don't understand what this is saying...
Are they trying to say there is a lot of iron in the blood because it is deep red?
Because it would make more sense saying the blood is deep red due to it being high in iron... right?

Bradh, they didn't say that at all it was just my observation because I did notice that the blood of the snakes was a very deep red color and even after it was dry it was still very dark red which I equated with high iron content. I don't know if it would be because the snakes kidneys don't excrete the iron from whatever the rattlesnake eats because it's diet is usually small mammals and maybe a few large insects or that the snakes digestive system is more efficient in extracting the iron. Or I could be totally in left field and totally wrong.

Anyone here a good wildlife biologist that maybe has studied snake and rattlesnake blood?

[bradh]

Originally Posted by DEMDeepEllumMusic

Bradh, they didn't say that at all it was just my observation because I did notice that the blood of the snakes was a very deep red color and even after it was dry it was still very dark red which I equated with high iron content. I don't know if it would be because the snakes kidneys don't excrete the iron from whatever the rattlesnake eats because it's diet is usually small mammals and maybe a few large insects or that the snakes digestive system is more efficient in extracting the iron. Or I could be totally in left field and totally wrong.

Anyone here a good wildlife biologist that maybe has studied snake and rattlesnake blood?

Oh okay. The phrasing and context was just weird from reading it on my end. So you are saying there is possibly high iron in the blood due to your observations of its color. Got it!