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Snake Pit
Photograph by Ross McDermott, American Festivals Project
Each spring, the small city of Sweetwater, Texas, hosts what it bills as the world's largest rattlesnake roundup. Over three days, snake hunters bring in their catches (to make $5 a pound) and spectators gawk at the writhing, bloody spectacle.
Here, a group of children peer into the window of a holding pit containing thousands of rattlesnakes. None of the snakes will survive the Roundup—they will be decapitated, then skinned.
Read more about the Rattlesnake Roundup from the American Festivals Project blog. -
Rattlesnake Hunter
Photograph by Andrew Owen, American Festivals Project
Looking for a rattler, Riley Sawyers of the Sweetwater Jaycees reflects sunlight off a handheld mirror into a hole in the ground.
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Rattlesnake Wrangling
Photograph by Ross McDermott, American Festivals Project
Using a long pair of tongs, Sawyers reached into the hole, grabbed the rattlesnake, and pulled it out. The snake was then placed in a plywood box and driven to the roundup.
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Rattlesnakes
Photograph by Ross McDermott, American Festivals Project
At the 2009 Sweetwater Roundup, nearly 5,000 pounds (2,270 kilograms) of rattlesnakes were collected.
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Rattlesnake Fangs
Photograph by Ross McDermott, American Festivals Project
Every snake at the Roundup moves from the holding pit to the milking pit, where venom is collected. A major aspect of the event is education, such as this demonstration of the snake’s anatomy.
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Snake Killing
Photograph by Ross McDermott, American Festivals Project
After the milking pit station, each snake is decapitated.
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Snake Parts for Sale
Photograph by Andrew Owen, American Festivals Project
Nearly every part of a rattlesnake is available for sale at the roundup, including heads floating in formaldehyde and snakeskin dice.
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Snake-Skinning Pit
Photograph by Ross McDermott, American Festivals Project
At the snake-skinning pit, the snakes' decapitated bodies are stripped of skin and preserved. Snakeskins are popular souvenirs at the roundup, but the majority are sold as leather for boots, wallets, and belts.
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Skinning Snakes
Andrew Owen/American Festivals Project
A Sweetwater Jaycee helps an uninitiated woman get her hands dirty at the snake-skinning pit.
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Rattler Blood
Photograph by Ross McDermott, American Festivals Project
Skinning snakes is bloody business. Unusable or unsalable parts of the snake are thrown into barrels below a metal countertop.
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Rattler Necklace
Photograph by Andrew Owen, American Festivals Project
A rattler becomes an accessory for a boy in West Texas, where the snakes are a part of life. The Jaycees who hold the Roundup say the event helps control snake population levels and educates citizens about living with the reptiles. But the brutal and commercial nature of the event has drawn criticism from some sides.
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