Rattlesnakes on a Friday!

Blonde Rascal got out of school on Friday at noon. Coincidentally, the annual Rattlesnake Roundup in a town about 30 miles from here started on Friday also. Of course b.r. wanted to go. I on the other hand was a little more reluctant. I had been once before, about 20 years ago while in college and that personally was enough for me. But hey, you do things for your kids, yes?

I believe the point of the rattlesnake roundup is to raise money for some organization? Gah, I should pay more attention. Anyway, insane crazy ridiculously nutty people go out and catch the rattlesnakes, bring them to the roundup and there is a winner for the biggest snake....or something. (Again with the not paying attention.)

So then they kill the snakes (praise God) and cook them, sell the skins, blah... blah... blah. It is redneck heaven. Not judging here, just stating the obvious!




They were milking the venom from the snakes.Venom is used as an anti-venom. Is that right?

It was simultaneously cool yet creepy to be that close to such a feared varmint.

The following picture gave me heart palpitations....
My blonde rascal is one brave hombre!

We live amongst the rattlesnakes now, however in the almost one year since we have lived here we have not seen one on our property. ( I hope I have not jinxed that by saying that out loud!!) I attribute this to 2 outdoor dogs and 3 barn cats. Seeing the snakes at the roundup was reassuring in that the snakes were not attacking the plumb fool handlers standing in the pits. Meaning, they are not vicious but must be provoked to attack. For instance stepping on one would be a bad idea. Happily though, they do not hunt down humans!!

My favorite part of the roundup was this fine smart gentleman....
Mwwwwwhaaaaa! Cutting their evil little heads off!!! You go boy!!!


Here snakey, snakey.....
Come to the chopping block.....
SMACK!
Ahhh....now THAT is what I call revenge.

They then went on to be skinned. You'll thank me for not taking pictures of that, I can assure you.

We went to buy some fried rattlesnake meat, but it was all gone. Sold out. Not joking. (See what I mean about redneck?) You see we were on our way to some friend's house for dinner that evening. I thought it would be seriously hilarious to take rattlesnake as an appetizer. Darn it.

So tomorrow is Monday, the first day of Spring Break! Whhhheeeeee! Poor b.r. woke up feeling puny this morning. Has a fever. He has not missed one day of school this year due to sickness. What kind of justice is this?? Hopefully he will be back to full speed tomorrow.