Wendy Townsend and her rhinocerous iguana Sebastian.Posted on 04/09/2014 8:01:55 PM PDT by kingattax
(CNN) -- At the annual rattlesnake roundup in Sweetwater, Texas, in early March, Jaycee sponsors and volunteers slaughtered 3,890 pounds of rattlesnakes.
The event is billed as "Fun for the whole family," and children take their turns to skin a snake, and afterward, press their hands covered with snake blood onto a wall of handprints.
The Jaycees, short for the U.S. Junior Chamber, bills itself as a group that gives young people "the tools they need to build the bridges of success." The Sweetwater branch has been holding what it calls "The World's Largest Rattlesnake Round-Up" for 56 years on the first weekend in March, and the tool for success that it teaches young people is that it's fun to kill and torture animals.
For weeks or even months, rattlesnakes are stored in crowded barrels until it's roundup time. The snakes that have not suffocated under their kin arrive hungry, dehydrated, and sick from gasoline that was sprayed into their burrows to flush them out.
Editor's note: Wendy Townsend writes for children and young adults, and she and her family raise lizards as pets. Her third novel, "Blue Iguana," has just been released by namelos. The opinions in this commentary are solely those of the author.
Wendy Townsend and her rhinocerous iguana Sebastian.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
“Mean as a snake.” Well, Wendy’s a lefty journo.
Professional courtesy to a fellow serpent?
I killed a couple dozen on a nature trail one afternoon with a long-handle shovel.
They were sunning on the path, they were everywhere. It was a dammed nightmare.
We have armadillos too. If I would stand perfectly still this one would sometimes get within a foot of my feet.
A friend’s neighbor had a golden retriever. It lived up to her name and grabbed a deer stomach a hunter gutted and brought it back. We all got out of there before she licked us to death.
LOL. Perfect.
The poor hungry, thirsty little sweethearts. Let’s send them all to CNN.
I think the scariest thing I have ever seen was a foot long centipede in my campsite near Oolagah, Oklahoma. Each segment was the size of a quarter.
Fine. Don’t kill them. Dump the darn things in congress.
You can’t. The snakes already there take up all the room.
sometimes you can get Texans to swap their armadillo chili for some southern fried Florida gator tail.
I believe Smokey had a little bull dog in him. Most dogs kill snakes by grabbing them in the middle and immediately shaking them to pieces.
Smokey would jump in and out and when he got his chance he would clamp down right behind the snake’s head. He would grip them until they were dead.
Killed my first rattler of the year last week. At twilight and I damn near stepped on it.
I beat it to death with a hoe. If Wendy had been available I could have beat it death with a ho.
I took the grandkids there last year. My grandson was going to skin a rattler but the waiting line was just too long. The whole place was packed including the gun show next door.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.