Texas Roundup

I don't necessarily agree with the round-up, but I can understand why they do it. What gets me upset are comments like,

"We saw this as a rite of passage to be able to bring your boys out here and let them see how you have good clean fun and learn something and appreciate nature," says Jeff Hulstein. "It's one of the ways we are going to raise these boys into men."

Yeah, great "fun" and a real way to turn boys into men... I just don't get it.
 
That's horrible. Controlling the population I understand. Not making a show of the killing.
 
Thats probably the saddest part (apart from mindless snake slaughter, environmental damage due pouring gasoline down holes other species share, let alone allowing so many rednecks to gather in one place!).
My 'rite of passage' was at 11 yoa, being forced to watch a live sheep slaughtered, something Ill never forgive nor forget. It didnt cause me to have no empathy for living things, only increased it, but I imagine watching such cruelty just for entertainment must be warping kids. I wonder why some kids set kittens on fire? :(

From wiki

This species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001).[7] Species are listed as such due to their wide distribution, presumed large population, or because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. The population trend is stable. Year assessed: 2007.[8]

They are also heavily collected from the wild, frequently being drawn out of their hiding places with gasoline, and used in Rattlesnake Round-Ups where they are killed for entertainment. Despite this, their population is not considered to be threatened.

Note the bold. No wonder so many species are endangered!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotalus_atrox#Conservation_status
 
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I know it seems wrong. It is important to control the population. Just as we do with dear. If you noticed they we also collecting venom. This is vital to make anti-venom. Its different when you live here and those things a lerking in your back yard with your kids and dogs.
 
You mean deer that are hunted with licenses. Thats not the same as making a piss poor justification to slaughter snakes for population control. Its entertainment what ever you want to call it. Spanish fight bulls ect. We over here have to be politically correct about everything and call it population control to make it sound right. How many of your relatives have died or been injured or threatened by rattlers? Seriously. They say they collect them all over the states. Really? Just sounds gruesome to hold a fair and do it. We dont have bring all the deer and slaughter day. Get real.

Killing snakes is one thing celebrating a massacre is another
 
I know it seems wrong. It is important to control the population. Just as we do with dear. If you noticed they we also collecting venom. This is vital to make anti-venom. Its different when you live here and those things a lerking in your back yard with your kids and dogs.

better kill all the sharks then too. Dont want nobody to be swimming with the fish ;)
 
I hate these events (never been to one and plan to never go to one), if they just collected the venom then released most of them it wouldn't be so bad. These events are way more like genocide for entertainment, then population control.

If they need real population control issue licenses have places to collect venom, then kill and eat them in your home (like you would with fish).

My 'rite of passage' was at 11 yoa, being forced to watch a live sheep slaughtered, something Ill never forgive nor forget. It didnt cause me to have no empathy for living things, only increased it, but I imagine watching such cruelty just for entertainment must be warping kids.

Most of my childhood was spent living on a farm we razed and slaughtered our own sheep. To me it was a perfectly norm part of my life (and boy were they tasty), to care for the sheep then eat them. I must say I turned out to be a fairly normal law abiding person.
 
Holy Smokes Folks! Whats that explosive stuff that goes bang with the slightest bump...
Nitro Glycerine? Some subjects seem to be alot like nitro dont they! :D

Antivenom is fair enough, but it doesn't require such huge numbers nor killing the snakes, they produce more venom, they dont run out like a soda bottle, so excusing sheer numbers by antivenom production alone doesn't really cut it. :)

Its just my opinion but I dont agree with 'controlling numbers' anyway, nature will take care of that left to her own devices. All species experience boom/bust cycles.
Given most are collected from areas nowhere near homes, protection doesn't really cut it either, and there are certainly better ways to educate and eradicate.

Chopping snakes heads off is akin to cutting the fins from sharks and leaving them to sink, they dont die instantly as ignorant folk imagine, its monstrously cruel.

"Tomorrow I get to skin snakes and chop their heads off, and I am super-excited about it," said Laney Wallace, Miss Snake Charmer 2011.

Pathetic Bimbo. No wonder stereotypes persist when people so consistently live up to them!
 
I just thought I would share a different side. Since I do live in Texas. Yes I have lost dogs to Rattlers. By no means am I calling it "right". I have never been to these places where they do this. But I have seen stock shows where you train, primp, and fluff these bulls for a year. Then if you win the show. Do you know what happens? They take them to the butcher. Its sad.

But it just shows how people take these things the wrong way. (You guys and the people doing it). No it is not compareable to cutting sharks fins off. But yes it is wrong to make such a parade about it.
 
Decaptiation of many reptiles is nothing short of inhumane. If there needs to be population control then it should at least be done humanely IMHO.
"Reptilian brain metabolism can function at low respiration and heart rates, and Warwick (1986) cites evidence that the heads of snakes will respond to approach for up to 59 mins after decapitation"...
http://www.applied-ethology.org/ethicalguidelines.htm

Decapitated snake....
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/823553/decapitated_rattle_snake_still_moves/
 
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Decaptiation of many reptiles is nothing short of inhumane. If there needs to be population control then it should at least be done humanely IMHO.
"Reptilian brain metabolism can function at low respiration and heart rates, and Warwick (1986) cites evidence that the heads of snakes will respond to approach for up to 59 mins after decapitation"...
http://www.applied-ethology.org/ethicalguidelines.htm

Decapitated snake....
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/823553/decapitated_rattle_snake_still_moves/

That just made it so much worse
 
Indeed! This was exactly what I was getting at! Always relevant links Kin, You have more patience (scouring the web) than me! :)
 
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