Monday, February 23, 2009

The 2009 Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup

It is only 18 days until the Annual Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup. Plenty of time to make plans to head west if you are in the Dallas/Fort Worth zone, or whatever direction you need to head from your location to reach the eastern fringes of West Texas where the town of Sweetwater is located.

The weekend will officially kick off on Thursday, March 12, 2009 with the Rattlesnake Review Parade through downtown Sweetwater. That evening, you can attend the Miss Snake Charmer Pageant held in the Sweetwater Municipal Auditorium at 7:00pm.

The doors will open at 8:00am Friday March 13, 2009 for the 51st Annual Sweetwater Jaycees World's Largest Rattlesnake Round-Up, with snakes being weighed in at 7:00am that morning at the Nolan County Coliseum. Catch one of the snake handling demonstrations and be sure to try some deep-fried Western Diamondback Rattlesnake meat.

Now, I have not, myself, sampled deep-fried Western Diamondback Rattlesnake meat, or any snake meat, for that matter. The idea sort of disgusts me. When I saw the deep-fried Rattlesnake, the big sharp bones really sealed the deal in making it unappetizing. I don't care how much it supposedly tastes like chicken.

There are a lot of people who think rounding up rattlesnakes is a wrong thing to do. What amazes me is that there are so many of the slithery reptiles that each year there seems to be a fresh supply waiting to be rounded up.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It is high time that these barbaric out dated atrocities were outlawed. It is not fun, it is slaughter and torture on a grand scale. Cruelty like this would not be allowed with any other species so why keep these brutal and vicious exhibitions of cowardice going. The rattlesnakes do nor deserve this.