Rattlers Ready for the Rodeo
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The 56th Annual Rattlesnake Rodeo is full of fun, great food, good music and, of course, rattlesnakes. Sometimes, even the people working the event become a part of the tradition.
That is true for Don Childre, the rodeo coordinator. He has been wrangling snakes most of his life.
“I had fooled with a lot of poisonous snakes as a child,” Childre says. “I kept one in an aquarium as a pet for a couple of years.”
So it seemed like a natural fit for him to join the Rattlesnake Rodeo. He must have liked working with the snakes, because he has been a part of the event for 46 years.
“There’s, a little bit of a thrill that goes with it,” he says. “I tell people, we don’t have grizzly bears… Rattlesnakes are the next best thing!”
Wranglers caught 82 snakes for the event this year. Snakes are brought in from neighboring counties, backyards and anywhere else a snake might hide. While the rodeo is fun for people, it is also good for the snakes. The snakes will be taken to a research facility after the rodeo and their venom will be used to help snake bite victims.
“We take very good care of our snakes,” says Mayor John Bartholomew. “And when we’re done, the snakes are on to an area where they are milked for venom, and they stay there. That owner takes care of them for the rest of their lives.”
The snakes are not just for entertainment, Bartholomew adds, but they can be used as an educational tool.
“This is an educational program. That way children see them on cartoons, they think they’re safe. But their really not,” he says. “So we use this for an educational program to show them, that what’s in the woods, what’s around, grab your parents, grab an adult, don’t touch the snakes.”
Childre says no one has been hurt by a snake in all of the 56 years, but anything is possible. He does warn that if one slithers your way, do not panic.
“If you’re so close to one you can’t get away from it, you’re in danger of being bit, just don’t move. More than likely, the snake will just crawl on,” Childre says.
The rodeo features concerts from musicians like Chris Tomlin and Elli Holcomb, among others. There will also be arts and crafts for kids, food vendors, a 5K walk or run and the traditional snake race. For details on the event, click here.
