Nightmare Inducing

Rattlesnake Roundup

One of the first arguments I ever got into on the 'net was in a TalkCity chat room where someone asked me if I lived near Sweetwater, Texas (where the rattlesnake roundup takes place.) I said I didn't live near there, but when the person asked what I thought of it, I replied that I couldn't see much wrong with it. I was then called a savage, a planet destroyer, a hater of Mother Gaia, etc.

I've done quite a bit of research on this hunt and others and rattlesnakes in general, especially after being attacked in my Rattlesnakes in Palo Duro Canyon post. (that's the reason I hid the comments and don't allow any others on that particular one) From what I've read, the hunt DOES have a short-term affect on the rattler population, but that the snakes adapt quickly to the fluctuations in food.  Reduce the rattler population, the numbers of rats, mice and rabbits go up, creating a larger food supply for the snakes, then their numbers increase in response. I've never seen anything that said rattlesnakes are anywhere close to being an endangered species.* 

Yes, it would be "best" for animals if we (humans) didn't encroach upon their territory, but we always have and always will.  As far as the charges of animal cruelty...well, that doesn't generate much sympathy in me.  The snakes are handled roughly, but the way they're dispatched doesn't see overly cruel to me. 

I've killed a few rattlers in my life, always when out hunting rabbits.  I've never gone out of my way to kill them;  I don't go hunting them, don't run over them in my vehicle.  I figure if they leave me alone, I'll leave them alone.   That said, if I found one in my yard then their life expectancy would be the exact amt. of time it would take me to find a hoe or shovel.

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*After this post hit my reader and I re-read it, I thought I'd better add there is no danger, not at the present time, that Western Diamondback rattlers are endangered.  I have read the Eastern type is being considered for the endangered list.

I also want to add that I'm not endorsing the roundup but I'm also not going to condemn it.  I'll admit that I'm not a fan of snakes or most reptiles, so the fact that they're not "cute and cuddly" factors into my ambivalence.  If taking out so many rattlers reduces the population, one would think the number of snakes caught each year would go down.

A Rattlesnake Hunt

No, not hunting FOR rattlers, but a rattlesnake hunting. Successfully.

Sucks to be a mouse.

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Edit: Sorry, but it looks like the video has been taken down. It's been so long since I posted it, I forgot the name of it and a quick look around the website where it came from - http://www.thenewsroom.com/ - doesn't show seem to exist as it did when I nabbed the vid. Again, sorry 'bout that.

Rattlesnakes in Palo Duro Canyon

ORIGINAL POST HAS BEEN EDITED

(to add information, to correct my atrocious spelling and grammar, the usual stuff)

Updated as needed.

NOTE: I'm now not for sure if these photos are from PD Canyon. The photos were horrifying and I know a sight like that definitely COULD be somewhere here in the Texas Panhandle. ( or in surrounding states)

A video at YouTube has these same photos and claims they were taken in Wyoming. Another video looks to be similar country, but doesn't have the same images.

This is probably yet another case of an email "spoof" or at the very least, a mistake as to where the photos were taken.

So, my apologies to all who have found this post via Google, my apologies to all who regularly read this blog and my apologies to whoever owns these photos.

Things like this shouldn't happen...but will probably happen again.

Happens to the best of us. Happens a bunch to a doofus like me.


Here's the original post.

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My neighbor sent me these photos earlier this a.m. She didn't say who took them, and I'm normally loathe to publish something like this, not knowing to whom they belong or who I should credit, but thought they might be of interest to the readers of this blog.

So, if someone reading this owns these photos and objects to me putting them in this pathetic excuse for a blog, just email me and I'll be more than happy to take them down. Really, I'll be happy.

My toes are still curling up and I'll probably have nightmares tonight.

Click the photos for larger view.







I honestly believe that all God's creatures have a purpose and a right to exist on this planet; I also am concerned about the environment but looking at these I can't help but think:

"Five gallons of gasoline and a match...."

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End of original post

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Here's the last mail I got about rattlesnakes. I honestly think that's real as to the location, as well as the perspective of the shot influencing weight/length.

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My last encounter with a rattler Snakes Alive!

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Here's a photo a friend sent me a couple of years ago. It's supposed to be in Kansas, and since he is a State of Kansas highway employee, I figured he could vouch for the location.



The funny thing is that this photo also made the rounds, and it eventually got back to me as being in a Texas highway culvert.

I know we Texans are prone to brag, even to stretch the truth some, but we're not supposed to out-and-out lie about things. (well, not all the time, anyway)

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Thanks to all for the emails regarding this, and thanks also for being polite. That's why this blog has limits on posting. I don't mind being told I'm wrong, but I draw the line at being called names because I've made a mistake.

(If I enjoyed that sort of thing, I would've stayed married)

One reader from Yukon, OK sent me this link; seems that the mail has made its way out West and now the snakes are in California.

Man, those snakes sure get around, don't they? Faster than a speeding email.

Thanks for the link!

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Palo Duro Canyon official website

Some good photos there, loads of information on the canyon.

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Snakes Alive!

I went over to the Groom Cross the other afternoon and took a shortcut down this county road and (nearly) ran into this guy, a prairie rattler, about three foot long.

It wouldn't even move when I got out and threw some pebbles at it, didn't even rattle. For a minute, I thought it'd been run over and squished already because it looked so flat near its tail.

I had absolutely nothing longer than my arm on me except the tripod for my camera, and I really didn't want to wave it at the snake, esp. since I would soon be using it.

To be honest, I really didn't want to harm it. Now, if it was in my yard...

It moved a bit, so I figured it was only wanting to be left alone to soak up the setting sun's last warmth, some solar energy storage for a night's hunting. I really wanted it to make it coil up in strike position for a good shot, but didn't want to get close enough to make it assume that position.

I inched my truck up to it, the tire barely touching it and then I'd move the steering wheel, making the snake move but it didn't budge on its own, responding to this danger with nothing more than a lazy flick of its tail, not even a decent rattle!

I backed up, then drove right alongside it.

It finally started moving a little bit after I poured some water on it and I could finally hear an audible rattle, absolutely spine tingling. If you've ever been walking in tall grass and heard that sound, it will freeze you, root you to the spot!