Most of the captured snakes are western diamondback rattlesnakes. People found trapping or killing snakes on state trust land will be considered trespassers, Powell said. Some of the snakes will be butchered at the event, cut into segments, breaded and deep-fried for snacking. The rest will be taken to processors, where the snakes' heads, tails and skins will be harvested and used to make belts, boots, hat bands, key rings and paperweights. Because of the wet winter we experienced in New Mexico, rodent populations are expected to increase this year.
Rodents carry hantavirus and plague, both of which can be fatal to humans.
Coleman said if not for the roundup, snakes would overrun residential areas and kill pets. He is directing the roundup this year because the event's organizer, Tom Moore, was arrested in February on charges of possession and transfer of a machine gun. Moore, being held without bail in the Dona Ana County Detention Center, is accused of selling a machine gun to an undercover agent of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in January. The land commissioner is responsible for administering 13 million acres granted to New Mexico as trust land in 1898 and 1910.