More teens slaughtering their own snakes. Hideous and unsanitary.
Snake handler practicing medicine without license
More evidence that animals are being caught in other locations and shipped into these festivals. I had a hunch that something was up after seeing the Okeene Rattlesnake meat sell for $25 per lb. when Apache's sold for $15 per lb. only 3 weeks earlier. The Apache hunt started in 1982, the Okeene hunt shown here started in 1939 so my guess is Okeene is pretty wiped out of good sized rattlers. Okeene was the first roundup in the country.
These people are drinking CROWN ROYAL with Western Diamondback Gall Bladders in it. Not only does the butcher shop deny the risk of salmonella (the alcohol kills it) but the meat at Okeene in 2011 is $25 per lb. Yikes, what happened to the $10 per lb. in Apache 3 weeks earlier? Oh yeah, they have to import snakes into Okeene now, they actually admit this in other videos! And I do believe I start encouraging women in the crowd to try it, but these people are all hitting the same bottle!
They let in a member of the general public to pin and handle a snake, so I asked. And received. It was nerve racking not because I was picking up a rattlesnake but because if anything goes wrong, it's only being captured by 50 cameras! I am the guy with the Toronto/Phaneuf shirt on! And this snake DID NOT have it's mouth sewn shut either, right before I shot this video, the barefoot guy showed off it's fangs.
Holding a snake with it's mouth sewn shut. They do this by putting it in the freezer.
They freeze the snakes (which starts the crystallization of their blood) and then they sew their mouths shut. Barbaric.
Chihuahua Vs Rattlesnake. Most of the Chihuahua's were not impressed.
In this video, we see evidence that snakes are subjected to treatment such as having their mouths sewn shut which makes it impossible for them to eat. Also the repeated handling causes a lot of stress which is harmful for the animal. Waurika OK, April 2011
Right before we go into the dark room to see Smoky the fake snake, the tour guide admits that a lot of tall tales go on regarding rattlesnake hunts. My personal favorite was that rattlesnakes are docile but a "copperhead will bite you and smile". I must have photographed ten copperheads in the wild last year and not a single one even stuck at me. Once again notice the real snakes without water!