Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup Pageant Hopefuls Decapitate & Skin Snakes

CNN.com has an interesting article about an event ending today out in Sweetwater, Texas.

That event being the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup.

CNN's article is titled "Pageant Hopefuls Decapitate & Skin Snakes at Rattlesnake Roundup."

In this article I learned some things I did not know about the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup.

For instance, as part of the Miss Snake Charmer pageant that starts off the Roundup on Thursday, each of the contestants  chops off a Diamondback Rattlesnake's head, holding the murdered snake up with one hand while giving a beauty queen wave with the other hand, as cameras flash.

And then the contestants rub their hands in the murdered snake's blood to memorialize the kill with a handprint on a wall.

I also did not know that visitor's to the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup could pay $10 to skin a Rattlesnake. And dip their hands in the blood to leave a memorial handprint.

The video that is at the top of the article is well worth viewing. There are several jaw dropping parts. Like a dad from, I think, Dallas, taking his kids to Sweetwater to hunt Rattlesnakes. In the video we see the kids catching snakes.

In the video you will also see the bloody handprints. Along with Miss Snake Charmer.

Below is my video of the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup. CNN's is much better than mine.