But environmentalists fear that the annual harvest may push the rattler on to the endangered species list and help the spread of disease as their prey, rodents, explode in number. Sweetwater, Texas, rounded up about 20,000 western diamondback rattlesnakes for their annual festival. As reported on National Geographic Today this week, Whiting traveled to Sweetwater to witness the harvesting of the snakes, standing at one point in a pit filled with 2,000 of the reptiles. The rattlers are caught, milked for their venom, then skinned and fried in a giant cook-off.
Some local residents eat the fresh snake gallbladders raw.
But this notion was dismissed by herpetologist Carl Franklin, who told Whiting that the venom was not being collected in a sterile environment. They are just out to make a buck. A big concern of environmentalists is that the regular slaughter of tens of thousands of rattlesnakes in the Sweetwater area will have a negative impact on the ecosystem. If the rattlesnake roundup continues in this vein, the western diamondback rattlesnake may wind up on the endangered species list, Whiting said. Fitzgerald's decision may be the solution to the plight of the western diamondback, she said.