Why are rattlesnake roundups harmful to ecosystem
health?
Rattlesnake collection methods are highly destructive of
habitats used by rattlesnakes and a host of other creatures.
One of the most destructive methods is the use of gasoline or
other toxic chemicals to drive rattlesnakes from their dens and
resting places, a practice known as gassing. Gasoline is
sprayed or hosed to the back of the burrow or denning site to
drive the snakes forward, where they can be captured. This is
the most common method of collection in the southeastern United
States, where collectors spray gopher tortoise burrows to
capture the eastern diamondback rattlesnakes that use the
burrows during their periods of winter inactivity and as
temporary summer refuges.
Are species other than
rattlesnakes adversely affected by collection methods?
One of the most environmentally destructive aspects of
roundups is the use of gasoline or other toxic chemicals to
drive rattlesnakes from their dens and resting places. Other
nontarget species that are harmed by gassing include snakes,
lizards, toads, and crickets. Gassing may render a site
uninhabitable for years.
Exposure to gasoline is extremely harmful to a wide range of
gopher tortoise burrow dwellers, including indigo snakes, box
turtles, coachwhip snakes, pine snakes, southern toads, and
gopher frogs, along with burrowing owls, raccoons, opossums,
and at least 32 species of invertebrates. Many of these species
are highly dependent on gopher tortoise burrows, and many of
the invertebrates found in gopher tortoise burrows probably
live nowhere else. Gopher tortoises, burrowing owls, and
eastern indigo snakes are federally protected species.
Exposure to gasoline, even in minute quantities, either
kills outright a variety of wildlife or interferes so
profoundly with their basic biological functioning that they
cannot feed or reproduce. A few roundups, including those in
Mangum and Waurika, Oklahoma, have officially condemned the
practice. However, no system for checking snakes for gasoline
exposure is in place, and many hunters who bring snakes to
these roundups undoubtedly still use the method.
What other dangers are posed by
the use of gasoline in rattlesnake collection?
Because gasoline is highly flammable, gassing creates the
possibility of a fire or explosion that could cause human
injury or death. Moreover, gasoline contains a number of
substances that are extremely harmful to humans. These include
benzene, which has been linked to human leukemia; paraffinic
hydrocarbons, which have been shown to cause tumors in the
liver, skin, and kidneys in laboratory animals; and the
suspected carcinogens ethylene dibromide and ethylene
dichloride. Gasoline introduced into the soil could contaminate
groundwater, which is the primary water source for many rural
communities; thus, gassing has the potential to poison
wildlife, livestock, and humans. In terms of human health, it
must also be recognized that at least some of the rattlesnakes
collected by gassing could absorb dangerous amounts of toxic
chemicals, and that at least some rattlesnake meat sold to the
public at roundups and shipped out of state is undoubtedly
contaminated. This presents a public health hazard.
How widespread is gassing?
Rattlesnakes collected for roundups in the Southeast, and
many, if not most, collected in Oklahoma and Texas, are
captured through gassing. Interviews in the field with
collectors in Oklahoma, Texas, Georgia, and Alabama corroborate
that at least 90% of roundup collectors still use gasoline. In
the past, roundup organizers have openly admitted to the press
that most of the snakes brought to their events are taken with
gasoline. A few hunters have switched from gasoline to ammonia
to appease critics, but the use of ammonia has potentially
harmful environmental consequences of its own. Gassing is still
the most efficient method of capturing rattlesnakes during the
late winter and early spring months, when most of the
collection for roundups takes place. As long as roundups are
held, gassing will take place, barring development of a method
for detecting residues on live animals and requirement of its
use by law.
What other forms of habitat
disturbance are caused by roundups?
Rattlesnake hunters excavate gopher tortoise burrows, turn
over rocks and logs, and use crowbars to pry open crevices and
enlarge den openings. In a hunting area used by participants in
the Waurika, Oklahoma, roundup, 76% of potential snake shelters
were searched, and 96% were disturbed or misplaced so that they
lay flat on the ground and were no longer suitable for
habitation by snakes. Some species of rattlesnakes, including
the timber rattlesnake, will abandon habitat subjected to human
disturbance. Timber rattlesnakes will leave otherwise suitable
habitat for up to five years if it is repeatedly disturbed.
How are roundups connected to the
trade in rattlesnake skins and parts?
After being slaughtered, some rattlesnakes are processed
into curios, while others are skinned and their meat sold to
visitors or to restaurants.
Since organized roundups began in the 1920s in Texas, a
number of fundamental changes have taken place. Roundups are no
longer simply a means of controlling or exterminating a species
deemed harmful; they are now intimately tied to the production
of profit. Roundups bring organizers considerable amounts of
money through their associated festivities and collateral
activity. They are also intimately tied to the growing trade in
rattlesnake skins, organs, and snake curios. However, the
snakes brought by hunters to roundups account for only
approximately 15% of the animals entering the market. The rest
come from a thriving, unmonitored, and largely unregulated
year-round trade. No other wild animal in the United States is
as extensively exploited and traded without regulation or
oversight as are rattlesnakes.
What impact do roundups have on
the public perception of snakes?
Public displays of cruelty only reinforce the mistaken idea
that snakes are worthless, bad animals, and roundup visitors
can only conclude that snakes are beneath basic humane
consideration. Many rattlesnake handlers and roundup organizers
attempt to negatively influence public perceptions about snakes
with misinformation in their displays and written promotional
material. Some of this erroneous information is willfully
fabricated, and some is the result of long-standing, but
equally fallacious, local myths.
Common fallacies heard at these events are the number of
people fatally bitten by rattlesnakes yearly (erroneous figures
of up to 4,000 deaths per year are commonly quoted), and the
relative potency of the venom of various species. Other
erroneous claims frequently heard at roundups and printed in
roundup promotional materials include the suggestions that
roundups reduce the number of human bites and that rattlesnake
bites cause significant livestock losses. There is no evidence
to support either claim. Bites to livestock are uncommon, and
those that do occur rarely result in fatalities. As for bites
to humans, roundups actually increase their number. Roundup
organizers also regularly try to distort the intentions of
environmentalists and biologists, suggesting that criticism of
roundups is irrational and without merit, even if it originates
from well-respected biologists with considerable field
experience. Some roundup organizers have used threats to
silence opposition.
How do roundup organizers put a
false spin on events?
Roundup organizers are becoming adept at sending up
smokescreens of positive environmental messages and words of
respect for the animals used in their events. Claims that
snakes are released back into the wild, that gassing no longer
occurs, and that snakes are respected and admired are now
common in roundup promotional materials. Many roundups,
particularly in the Southeast, have become extremely creative
in their efforts to present a pro-environment face. Many use
local schools to promote their event. One roundup's promotional
materials claimed, "The annual Rattlesnake Roundup is by far
our greatest accomplishment, not only for the county but for
the country as well. Not only are we helping the environment
with the snake population, but we are able to contribute to
medical research by providing snake venom to research
labs."
Stating that a rattlesnake roundup performs a vital
environmental service is a great distortion of the truth.
(Further, snake venom collected at roundups is useless for
medical purposes.) A more honest statement would be that these
roundups are destructive to entire ecosystems.
