|
1-10 of 19 messages
|
Page 1 of 2
Next
|
|
Rattlesnake Roundup 09
|
Reply
|
|
by Ptk on March 17, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
So the wife, kid and I went to Claxton's Rattlesnake Roundup. I had one goal in mind talk to as many of the Nature Club reps as I could. They host/sponsor the event and have many political connections to the Chamber of Commerce. My approach was simple - be respectful, no preaching, and try to get them to see how much larger they could grow the event by making it something that ALL snake enthusiasts could enjoy, without culling from the wild populations.
This is a message that they have already heard from many on this site and others. I did not expect to change their minds but wanted to add my grain of sand to the pile.
As we turned off I16 we got on a two lane black top. From here to Claxton it was one oasis of green space after another broken up only by the occasional RV parks and mobile home communities. This is truly the waist belt of Southern Georgia's agriculture land.
Upon entering Claxton's City Limits we turned onto main street. This street paralleled a railroad track through the town. Both sides of the street/track were lined with businesses. The architecture here is old and simple, not "historic old", just plain old and simple. I can not imagine any major industrial growth here for the past two decades.
From several church/hotel marquees, to the giant inflatable snake in front of a Chevy dealership, just about every store front had banners or something announcing the Roundup. As we got closer to the Nature Clubs property (site of the event) we noticed people had wrapped stuff snakes around their mailboxes, street signs and telephone poles.
We missed the 5K snake run and the "Miss Rattlesnake Roundup" beauty contest. The parade had brought out Claxtons finest. The highschool's marching band, various sports teams and the politicians posturing for the voters. It became clear to me, that for them this event is not just something to do on the second weekend in March. This community defines itself by this one event. Getting them to stop or change this event would be like asking the rest of us to stop celebrating Independence Day!
This being my first and most likely last "Roundup" I didn't really know what to expect. At the event 9000 people attended on Saturday, not sure how many on Sunday. 165 Rattlesnakes were culled/"collected" this year. Apparently 78 of them from one source (was not able to find out what source). There were several major sponsors peddling their wares but most of the booths belonged to the locals. You could over hear one vendor and the next swapping gossip about a third.
The main attraction was "The Snake Master - Steve Scruggs" and his program "Let's Get Wild - Outdoor Education For The Next Generation". I have never heard or seen of Mr.Scruggs program before. He was an older man (grandfather type) and although I wouldn't call him a "polished" presenter, he certainly kept the crowd appeased. He gave the usual rhetoric you hear at any snake event with the exception that terms like "mean, scary, evil" were used to describe the snakes. This years "Monster" was a 6ft long and 9.8 pound EDB (see link for pictures).
I wont attack Mr. Scruggs personally or pick his presentation apart but here are some comments made that had me kicking the dirt.
1. "We collected 165 snakes this year. That means 165 less snakes to bite you this year".
2. "We take all the venom collected and I have a Doctor friend in South Carolina that makes something for me called "Snakebite"".
3. "A female EDB once mature can birth up to two dozens babies at a time. No matter how many we could collect out of the wild we could never hurt the wild population".
4. "For those that would argue that we are hurting the wild population because less and less are collected each year....well.....that's simply not true. Less are collected each year because fewer people are collecting them. Come on folks......there are plenty of these snake left out there".
I spoke to everyone I could find that had a Nature Club badge from the people working the parking lot, concessions, ticket sellers, booth organizers, etc. After getting them to lower their guard a little they all were polite and hospitable. They seemed to be open to wanting to include all snake enthusiasts and growing the event. None opposed the idea of no longer culling wild specimens but what they truly thought after I left I don't know.
I am not sure what the answer is for Claxton's Roundup but until this community has another way to recognize itself I don't believe it will stop willingly anytime soon.
PTK
http://photos.walmart.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=45289297/a=15353459_15353459/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink
|
| |
|
RE: Rattlesnake Roundup 09
|
Reply
|
|
by earthguy on March 17, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Well done Patrick. I have found after many years of teaching that education CAN'T be forced on someone. "You can lead a horse to water..." Our best hope, in my opinion, is to consistently and politely educate people on the facts and hope that the zeal for killing dies before the wild populations do.
|
| |
|
RE: Rattlesnake Roundup 09
|
Reply
|
|
by brandonsthaman on March 17, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Thanks for posting this account of the round-up and the pictures to go with it.
I have two questions/comments:
1) I saw in the pictures that there are non-native species included in the display; so it's obvious someone is displaying their personal animals. If more people with captive rattlesnakes were willing to take them and display them for people to view, wouldn't that cut down on the demand for wild collected animals?
2) I mentioned this in the other rattlesnake roundup thread but didn't get any responses...
"I kind of wonder if making a limit on the number of snakes you can catch would help this problem. I mean it is hunting to an extent. If there is a limited number of deer or turkey that a hunter can take why shouldn't there be a limit for rattlesnakes?"
To me this seems like a pretty good answer for the over collecting caused by rattlesnake roundups and also for commercial reasons. Are there any such restrictions in other states that could be mentioned to the DNR for consideration?
|
| |
|
RE: Rattlesnake Roundup 09
|
Reply
|
|
by BobH on March 17, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Great report. I have attended this roundup several times but once you've seen it, thats all I could take. In reality only a few hunter bring in most of the animals. A large portion of these have been collected begining in August and continuing throughout warm spells during fall and winter until the roundup. Many often show signs of not being fed or watered for months. While the collectors do reduce the local populations that they collect from, the long term effect on C.adamanteus from the roundups is probably nothing close to that experienced from roadkill and indiscriminate killing. The main point is that the snakes are just draw for the carnival activities that take place and this could be replaced by a really good educational display, although I would have to think long and hard before I took my captive out into some of the January weather in S. GA. As I have mentioned before, I think a group like SSHS or the Gopher Tortoise Council should rent a booth and present good educational materials. I bet we could come up with an EDB that would dwarf their record breaker for the year (we would probable have to have it in a heated cage).
|
| |
|
RE: Rattlesnake Roundup 09
|
Reply
|
|
by earthguy on March 17, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Brandon,
I think it would be a good idea to limit the number of snakes that could be hunted at these roundups. I agree with you that this is hunting, but it is unlikely that we would get the same level of support for this that deer, turkey or bird hunters would get. That would require didicated wildlife biologists to collect data and convince lawmakers to make good decisions. Even when the will is there the budget often isn't. Plus you would have to have educated and dedicated game wardens, most of whom grew up in the very culture that is demonizing the snakes at the roundups in the first place. Finally you would need those biologists, lawmakers, and gamewardens to work together to convince the general public that rattlesnakes aren't the spawn of Satan sent to destroy their children.
That said...Let's get to work. I'm not opposed to working against impossible odds if the cause is just.
|
| |
|
RE: Rattlesnake Roundup 09
|
Reply
|
|
by brandonsthaman on March 17, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Josh,
I understand what you mean about rattlesnakes not getting the same amount of support as other "game" animals. I have friends who are avid hunters and preach relentlessly about buck management but then brag about how many snakes they ran over on the way to the field... Trying to convince them that snakes aren't evil is a challenge that I have taken on personally.
I will talk to another friend of mine who is a game warden here in SC. I'll see what information he can give me regarding this issue.
I echo what you said: "Let's get to work. I'm not opposed to working against impossible odds if the cause is just."
|
| |
|
RE: Rattlesnake Roundup 09
|
Reply
|
|
by brandonsthaman on March 17, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Archie,
Do they do the slaughtering in front of the crowd or after the event?
Not that one way is better than the other per se... Just curious.
|
| |
|
RE: Rattlesnake Roundup 09
|
Reply
|
|
by pictigaster1 on March 17, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
There is a section of the arena where they are be headed and skinned in front of the crowd .Then they are cleaned and walked across the arena to be deep fried and sold.This is after they go through three milking pits.By the time they reach pit three there milking blood the glands have been squeezed so many times in the name of medical science to save us all from the evil atrox.Not to mention 99% were gassed .A federal violation.
|
| |
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this topic.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
Check our help page for help using
, or send questions, comments, or suggestions to the
Manager.
|
