Rattlesnake Roundup in Big Spring

There's a rattlesnake roundup going on this weekend in Big Spring, Texas.

The annual roundup in Sweetwater is generally more widely advertised and attended, but for those people who don't enjoy shoulder to shoulder crowding, the roundup in Big Spring is just the ticket. They put on a great show, too.

Snake handler Jackie Bibby was the master of snake ceremonies yesterday in the Howard County Fair Barn. And he will be the first to tell you that even professionals get bitten. He has the bandaged hand and stitched up arm to prove it.

The first step in treating a person who got in the way of the poisonous fang is to suck out some of the poison with a suction device. Then doctors may have to slice the skin to relieve the swelling pressure to avoid bursting. A good showman has to make sacrifices to please the crowd, but judging from the photos Mr. Bibby displayed of the open wounds and the scar he was sporting, this aspect of the job could not have been a pleasant experience.  Next time break a leg!

Elsewhere at the roundup there was at a snake skinning demonstration, and an amazing thing happened. There's probably more than one way to skin a snake, but in the demonstration yesterday the snake was decapitated, strung up by the tail, then split from tail to chop point. The lady who was doing the slicing grabbed the tail of a snake that had just been decapitated and held it up to hang it. The headless snake was thrashing around, and darned if it didn't strike at her arm as if it were still alive. The neck stump struck the woman's bare arm leaving a smear of its own blood. A direct hit. The head was gone, but the snake was still striking at the person who killed it.

Pretty amazing. The snake skinner was unfazed, but dang, now we have to watch our for zombie snakes?

Links: Big Spring Herald article, Sweetwater Roundup, and Jackie Bibby.

Added later:  A showman gives the folks a show -- Mr. Bibby strips off his bandage for this CBS7 video.

Comments

[J.P.]

Did you see the comments on the Big Spring page? Seems they have people that love rattlesnakes. I wonder what they would do if those "harmless" animals killed a pet of theirs?
BTW, I tried to participate in their event like I did in Sweetwater and was told they didn't want vendors because that would cut sales at their own stand.

[Geo]

J.P., I looked around for the Big Red Lunchbox, and now I know why it wasn't there. It's possible that more food vendors might draw more people to come eat. But I guess they have their own way of doing business. And as far as I can tell, they prefer doing it without a website, too.

[watch scrubs online]

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Love to read more from you on the topic above

[buy online]

These snakes givers me shivers, seriously.