The Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup

The Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup is a tape documenting the 1980 roundup, an event held each March in Sweetwater, Texas. During the weekend event, thousands of rattlesnakes are hunted and captured on local farms and ranches by residents of the town of Sweetwater and by people who travel to the area from as far away as Hawaii. The snakes are taken to a coliseum, tossed into pits, milked, butchered, skinned, and eaten. According to the late Bill Ransberger, the former principal organizer of the roundup, the event began in the late 1950s to control the population of Western Diamondback rattlesnakes that were threatening Sweetwater’s way of life. As the narrative progresses, a more compelling reason for the roundup is revealed; it’s the psychological rather than the physical survival of Sweetwater’s residents that’s at stake. Conveniently framed on Christianity’s special enmity toward the snake, and a need to control the species, the rattlesnake roundup continues to this day.