SWEETWATER, Texas — The world’s largest rattlesnake roundup has begun!
“We’ll have a couple of thousand pounds of snake that’ll just kind of be laying around in our holding pits. They’ll be able to come in and see more snakes that they’ve ever seen in their entire life. We have a carnival, we have a gun and knife show, I believe it’s going to be a car show, there’s a swap meet, a flea market,” said Del Riley, Sweetwater snake handler.
If you know anything about Sweetwater, these slithery guys have been around for decades.
“A little over 60 years ago some farmers and ranchers got together in Sweetwater because they were just too many snakes around and they started out trying to get rid of them. We found out we can’t do that, so now we just try keep the population in check,” said Riley.
Some of you are probably wondering but what about the poor snakes?
“If you don’t live here you really kind of don’t know the danger that it poses to all the people that live here, day in and day out. Like I said, it doesn’t go a week in the summer that I’m not out picking a snake up from a playground or somebody’s backyard or something like that,” said Riley.
Hey, snakes need love too right? No? If you’re the type to have a phobia, believe it or not, this event is for you too.
“I would say that this is absolutely the safest way to conquer that fear. It’s the safest environment that you’re ever going to be in to be able to get close to a western diamondback rattlesnake and not have to worry about getting bit,” said Riley.
Whether it’s conquering your fear of snakes, tasting them or giving back to SweetWater.. you don’t want to miss out on this annual tradition.
“We are a nonprofit organization when we give back to the community we have a Thanksgiving day feed where we will deliver 500 meals and feed another 300 people at our barn. We give bikes to straight ‘A’ students, we sponsor sports scholarships, we sponsor the dfw and the American Legion with boys state, helping them go do competitions and things. So we give every bit that we get back into the community,” said Riley.
The roundup lasts until March 15th at the Nolan County Coliseum.
220 Coliseum Drive
Sweetwater, Tx, 79556
For tickets and itinerary, visit:
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