How do roundups contribute to the potential spread of rodent-borne diseases?
Rodent-borne diseases have been a bane to human existence throughout history. The bubonic plague, for example, is carried by fleas living on mammals, usually rodents. Other diseases spread by rodents include Lyme disease, Murine typhus, and Hanta virus. Snakes, including venomous species, play an important role in the control of rodent populations. One rattlesnake can consume as many as 21 rodents a year. If we consider that the number of rattlesnakes taken for the Sweetwater, Texas, roundup has been as high as 18,000 in a single weekend, it appears that approximately 378,000 extra rodents are left to survive, breed, and serve as potential disease carriers each year as a result of that event alone. Allowing the overpopulation of rodents to occur is an economic, health, and ecological liability.
What problems might arise from the transport of rattlesnakes?
In recent years, a number of western diamondback rattlesnakes have been found in Kansas, which, until recently, had no verified records of this snake species closer than 50 miles south of the Kansas-Oklahoma border. Professional herpetologists in the region believe that the presence of western diamondback rattlesnakes in Kansas is the result of intentional releases or escapes. Possible motivations for introducing viable breeding populations of western diamondbacks include attempting to justify further roundups and providing new hunting areas for existing events. The introduction of any non-native species to an area can have unexpected ecological consequences. Moreover, transporting rattlesnakes by car or truck between roundups in the same state or across state lines could create a threat to human life in the event of an accident.
Can people become ill from handling or eating rattlesnake meat?
Rattlesnake meat is sold at rattlesnake roundups everywhere except in Pennsylvania. Many roundups kill rattlesnakes under unhygienic conditions, and, at several roundups, people have been observed gutting and skinning the snakes with their bare hands. Rattlesnakes carry potentially pathogenic organisms as a part of their normal gut flora, including many varieties of salmonella. This does not pose a public health threat when the animals are left in their natural habitats, but the butchering process and consumption of rattlesnake meat certainly expose both those doing the processing and those eating the meat to possible infection. Rattlesnakes also act as hosts to a wide variety of parasites, some of which could be passed on to humans in improperly prepared meat.
Is it safe for the public to be touching live snakes?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that the handling of live snakes can spread Salmonella. The CDC recommends that people most at risk—including children under five and people with weakened immune systems—avoid all contact with snakes and any items they’ve touched, including clothing. For others, the CDC advises that contact with reptiles in public settings should be limited to designated animal contact areas where there are adequate hand-washing facilities and no food or drink is allowed. It instructs all individuals to wash their hands thoroughly after touching a snake, though it warns that hand washing alone may not be enough to prevent the spread of the bacteria. Unfortunately, at most rattlesnake roundups, proper hand washing facilities are sparse, even though the snakes are sometimes handled by small children.
Isn't the preparation and sale of meat for human consumption regulated?
All states in the United States have laws concerning the butchering, preparation, and sale of meat and other animal products meant for human consumption. However, largely unchallenged loopholes exist in many states for so-called nontraditional or game meats. In Georgia, rattlesnakes are excluded from mandatory inspection before sale. In Texas, the personal use exemption probably allows for the sale of non-inspected rattlesnake meat, although rules against the sale of adulterated and contaminated meat still apply. Consequently, the sale of gasoline-tainted meat would be a punishable offense. In Kansas, meat to be sold must undergo inspection at a state-approved butchering facility. However, food inspectors have not been present at any of the Kansas roundups visited as part of the investigation for this report, despite the sale of meat to visitors and wholesalers.
Do rattlesnake roundups increase the risk of snake bites?
Roundups contribute to the number of nonaccidental, and thus unnecessary, bites to humans. The cost of treating a rattlesnake bite can range from $15,000 to $40,000.
The contention by many roundup organizers and apologists that roundups reduce the incidence of snakebite is not borne out in bite statistics. In fact, because roundups bring people, some of whom have no training whatsoever, into the field for the express purpose of capturing rattlesnakes, roundups will naturally cause an increase in the rate of bites. Activities at roundups, including sacking contests and daredevil shows, contribute to the number of nonaccidental, and unnecessary, snake bites.
Who pays for medical treatment when uninsured roundup participants are bitten?
When uninsured roundup participants are bitten, the local hospital and medical emergency systems foot the bill for treatment, which is expensive. Estimates range from a minimum of $15,000 to $40,000 per bite, depending upon whether the person requires intensive care, fasciotomy, or reconstructive surgery. Many, if not most, of the nation's hospitals have inadequate stores of antivenin on hand to treat even one badly poisoned person, and bites occurring at roundups place an unnecessary strain on antivenin stocks. Transport of bite victims is also extremely expensive, particularly if it is necessary to airlift the victims from a remote rural area to a municipal hospital. In cases where the bitten individual has no insurance, public funds must cover the costs resulting from unnecessary, risk-taking behavior.
Do communities and charitable organizations benefit from roundups?
A common justification of rattlesnake roundups is that they provide tremendous economic benefits for the hosting communities and generate large sums of money for charity. However, communities must consider the costs of caring for uninsured bite victims, and the costs of litigation if a bite victim chooses to sue the municipality, sponsors, the hospital, or all of these parties for negligence. In case of loss of life or limb, a judgment in the millions of dollars is possible.
Updated Jan. 23, 2007
