As a "Yankee" living in Texas I am constantly being introduced to many new things. Christmas parades, fried okra, as Heath says "a REAL rodeo", all sorts of plants that could easily kill you and yes, The Rattlesnake Roundup. We had the opportunity to attend the annual Big Spring Rattlesnake Roundup, what a show! It was really quite fascinating. The reason for the Roundup is to obtain the venom from the rattlesnakes by "milking" them. They use the venom in making anti-venom and also for research in other medicines. Pest control also happens to be a lovely side effect of the Rattlesnake Roundup.
There were all sorts of rattlesnake paraphernalia to purchase and also the floor show where death defying acts were taken place, crawling in a sleeping bag full of rattlesnakes, the Kiss of Death, and the world famous snake handler Jackie Bibby swinging rattlesnakes in his mouth. Pretty impressive, but definitely not some thing that I'll be training for anytime soon!
In the other half of the building they had all the rattlesnakes in this "pit" and they would put a bunch in a bucket and send it over to the next guy.
He would then milk the snake to extract the venom.
Then the snakes would continue down the line to the chopping block. Watch out!
And then onto the skinning station. After she was done cleaning them up she would take them directly over to the concessions booth, where they would chop, bread and fry them.
Certainly no Rattlesnake Roundup would be complete without biting into some deep fried rattlesnake. Yum!
6 comments:
I was so bummed when I realized I had missed the rattlesnake roundup. Seriously. It's a favorite childhood memory of mine.
Good for you for trying all things new during your time here...even if you may not understand them.
No Christmas parades or fried okra? Those are among some of the many reasons I will never leave my beloved Texas.
God Bless Texas. And all the poor little yankess who don't have Christmas parades, fried okra, warm weather, the best BBQ evah, REAL Mexican food, the Alamo, a state flag worth flying, bluebonnets, the most gorgeous sunrises/sunsets on planet earth, dance halls with Texas music, the stars at night (because they really are big and bright), rattlesnake roundup's, Willie Nelson, REAL rodeos, or a slew of other wonders. I'll stop there because I wouldn't want to make anyone feel like they were missing out on anything.
Love you!
Thanks alot, Lila, you did make me feel like I was missing out on everything. I am so jealous, I love the rattle snake round up. Looks like you had a great time.I'll just keep frying my okra and listening to Willie, while missing all my Texas favorites.
Love,
Melissa
I too am bummed that I missed the rattlesnake roundup. What is this business of no Christmas parades. How do you not have Christmas parades? I just thought Idaho did those when I was home visiting my family at Christmas. I'm shocked do y'all have any parades? There's a parade for every holiday here and I guessed it was like that everywhere, like a law or something. Anyway, your good for trying different things. This is just another reminder of how good it feels to be home. See, how could you ever want to leave Texas?
Man that is quite the event. . . how often do people get bit? We had confetti cake with confetti frosting and Take the Cake ice cream last night for the party. All per Cory's request.
Wow! That looks like fun! I can't believe they do that. Did Heath tell you that it tastes like chicken to get you to try it? How are the rabbits doing? We miss you guys and are holding your spot here in Vernon.
nothing says redneck like fried rattlesnake and dr pepper, im jealous- cory
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