Once the symbol of a proud and defiant young nation, the Rattlesnake is now hunted mercilessly. Where did we go wrong?Remember the tale of the Tortoise and the Hare? In the end, the tortoise won the race. What about the tale of the Tortoise and the Rattlesnake? In this story the tortoise loses everything. The story? Well, in Georgia there is a game called “Gas the Rattlesnake”. This is done so they can be captured and taken to one of two Rattlesnake Roundups. Here snakes are “milked” for venom, killed and skinned, cooked, gawked at, sold and generally mistreated. The tortoise is an innocent bystander. The way it works is this: the snake lives in the burrow that the tortoise digs, kind of like a roommate. When the strong and fearless snake hunter blows gasoline into the burrow, the snake leaves and the tortoise dies. And so do the many other creatures that live in the burrow. And the point? The point is that the whole exercise is pointless and destructive. Nobody needs to catch and kill these beautiful and increasingly rare snakes. The whole exercise is for a certain kind of person to demonstrate “manliness” and a few cities to make money on the festival. And over 300 species that live with the tortoise die for the morons. And of course the snakes die too. What a total waste of life.
Gadsden Flag Image: Public domain.
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2 comments:
Just out of curiosity, is there any reason that rattlesnakes couldn't be raised for the purpose? Y'know. Beyond laziness, the ethical issues inherent in raising animals for a nasty end, and the risk to cracker life and limb?
Do they not breed well in captivity? Are they more expensive to feed or slower to mature than a boa?
It just seems that one could ensure a more uniform supply of show-quality snakes with a bit of herpeculture.
M. The roundup isn't really about venom. The labs that make the antivenom seem to get all they need from captive snakes. This is best discussed off-radar because I can't keep from slipping into my NY mode.
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