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Roundup Myths and Facts
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by FSB on March 20, 2009
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Howdy folks... I am compiling this as part of a propaganda package to use against rattlesnake roundups for the Facebook group "Don't Tread on Me." Feel free to add any suggestions I may have missed...
Roundup Myths and Rattlesnake Facts:
Rattlesnake roundups are purported to harvest and provide venom for medical research, but this is simply not the case. Our organization includes some of the top providers and users of medical and research venom, none of which comes from roundups or from wild-caught snakes. They maintain carefully-controlled captive colonies for venom production which are fed specific diets and receive expert care, thus ensuring production of the highest-quality venom possible. The extraction process is highly systematized and professional, reducing the risk of contaminants, and venom for research or medical applications must undergo extensive processing (such as lyophylization) which requires state-of-the-art laboratory equipment.
Some rattlesnake roundups claim that the majority of snakes are released back into the wild, but this is a dubious proposition at best. Many of our members are or have been professional keepers for zoos and other institutions and can attest to the fragile nature of rattlesnakes, which are easily stressed. Animals which have been subjected to rough handling and especially to gassing will likely die slow, languishing deaths upon release. Additionally, rattlesnakes are very location-specific animals and will die if relocated more than a few miles from the immediate area in which they live.
Unlike the rodent pests which comprise the majority of their prey, rattlesnakes are slow to reproduce and cannot withstand wholesale slaughters. Some species, such as the timber rattlesnake, breed only every other year.
Whereas roundups in Texas primarily involve the western diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox), a relatively widespread and abundant species, the roundups taking place in the southeastern states of Georgia and Alabama are of special concern as they threaten already fragile populations of the eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) and the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus).
Rattlesnakes are not pest animals or vermin. Quite the contrary, they are consummately-equipped and highly-evolved apex predators, and play an important role in the elimination of rodent pests, which threaten our food supply and spread disease.
Far more Americans are killed each year by dogs, cattle, horses, deer, bees, or lightning than by all venomous snake species combined.
Anyone who has worked with rattlesnakes will attest to the fact that they are in fact very sensitive to external stimuli and pain and do have an acute awareness of their surroundings.
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RE: Roundup Myths and Facts
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by KingCobraFan on March 20, 2009
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Great post, Fred. I find especially true the statement that starts, "Rattlesnakes are not 'pest' animals or 'vermin'". The same people who would hunt rattlers to extinction or nearly so without thinking twice are the exact same ones who would freak out as their property is overrun by rodents.
Bill Huseth
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RE: Roundup Myths and Facts
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by Ptk on March 21, 2009
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Hi Fred,
Very good points. I appreciate all your doing on the DTOM. I especially like the explanation of why venom collected at the roundups is useless for antivenin.
You might consider listing the actual diseases that mice carry and a chart of their reproduction rate.
Cheers - PTK
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