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STAR TELEGRAM (Fort Worth, Texas) 26 March 08 Bayou Bob contends that his snake vodka is legal to sell (Jack Douglas Jr.)
Santo: A rattlesnake rancher in Palo Pinto County says his bottled concoction of snake and vodka is an "ancient Asian elixir" used for medicinal purposes and not, as the state says, bootlegged beverage with a pinch of fang.
Bob Popplewell, who for more than 20 years has raised rattlesnakes and turtles at Bayou Bob's Brazos River Rattlesnake Ranch alongside Interstate 20, 14 miles south of Mineral Wells, surrendered to authorities Monday after warrants were issued for his arrest on misdemeanor charges of selling alcohol without a license. Last week, agents for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission confiscated 429 bottles of the snake-infused vodka from Popplewell's snake farm, along with one bottle of snake and tequila.
At $23 a bottle, that is nearly $10,000 worth of hooch and reptile, TABC agent Scott Jones said.
Popplewell, known to locals in these rattler-infested hills as Bayou Bob or the snake man, spent 10 minutes in the county jail before being released on his own recognizance.
In an interview at his ranch near the small town of Santo, Popplewell said he was simply catering to some members of the Asian community who like to consume certain animal and insect parts -- for wellness and stability -- that most Americans would find disgusting.
"It's almost a spiritual thing," said Popplewell, 63, who said his paying customers have also included uniformed officers who wanted the bottles of snake and vodka as conversation pieces.
He said he buys only the cheapest vodka, using it as a preservative for the 10-inch snake he squeezes into each bottle.
And when the two are mixed, Popplewell said, it becomes a nasty-tasting, sickly sweet concoction that he likened to cough syrup. "I've honestly never seen a person drink it," he said.
Popplewell said he does not feel he has done anything illegal and will fight the Class B misdemeanor charges of selling alcohol without a license and possessing alcohol with intent to sell. A conviction carries a maximum penalty of a year in the county jail and $1,000 in fines.
The TABC, which has filed a criminal complaint against Popplewell, is not buying his argument that he's selling healing tonic. "It's sold for beverage purposes, and he knows what he's doing," TABC Sgt. Charlie Cloud said.
And even if Popplewell were marketing his drink as an elixir, highly regarded in Asian cultures, his use of vodka -- no matter how cheap -- requires him to get an industrial permit from the state, Cloud said. The same type of license is required for restaurants that make beer-battered onion rings, he said.
"He doesn't have any permit at all," Cloud said.
Popplewell got crosswise with animal-rights groups last year when he shipped thousands of turtles to Asia, where turtle meat is considered a delicacy. He said the same "tree-hugging" activists are now pressuring the TABC to go after him.
Cloud said a complaint prompted the TABC to send an undercover agent of Asian descent to Popplewell's snake ranch to buy two bottles of rattler vodka. "I don't know if he's a tree hugger or not. And I don't care," the sergeant said, referring to the person who complained about Popplewell.
There is some belief in Asian cultures, going back hundreds if not thousands of years, that a snake in booze has medicinal properties, said Camilla Hsieh, senior lecturer for Asian studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
In Taipei, Taiwan, vendors line a street -- nicknamed Snake Alley -- and offer the gall bladder from a freshly killed snake, immersed in a small glass of strong liquor for the highest bidder to drink, Hsieh said. The distasteful blend is believed to improve eyesight or, for men, enhance sexuality, she said. "It's like the ancient version of Viagra."
Such elixirs are joined by other concoctions that involve drinking turtle blood and the harvesting of sexual organs from tigers, Hsieh said.
"I disagree. I think it's cruel," she said, "but it has its roots" in Asian custom.
Bayou Bob contends that his snake vodka is legal to sell

KVUE (Austin, Texas) 04 April 08 TABC testing rattlesnake vodka (Shelton Green)
Federal authorities are now showing interest in an unusual find at a snake farm in Weatherford, outside of Fort Worth.
A few weeks ago a customer who visited "Bayou Bob's Brazos River Rattlesnake Ranch" called the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) to complain about an interesting elixir being sold to patrons.
The owner of the snake ranch was rebottling vodka and putting baby rattlesnakes inside of them.
The owner Bob Popplewell told KVUE that he was selling them as novelty items.
Popplewell was arrested by the TABC. and charged with selling alcohol without a license.
However his troubles may be far from over.
The TABC is currently testing the rattlesnake vodka at its chemistry lab in Austin to see if the mixture contains impurities and toxins.
Agents believe that some customers who spent $23 a bottle on the rattlesnake vodka may have ingested the liquid.
"When I tested the alcohol content I had to turn on the fans and clear out the room for a while because it really fouled the chemistry lab up" says Joy Murray, the TABC's chemist.
Investigators say they don't know if the baby rattlers were alive or dead when entombed in the vodka.
The snake farm owner faces up to a year in prison and federal charges may follow.
http://www.kvue.com/news/green/stories/040508kvuevodka-bkm.3170fa8f.html
TABC testing rattlesnake vodka