Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The Las Cruces Reptile Rescue, of which I am a board member on, has drafted an online petition to ban the Alamogordo Rattlesnake roundup which occurs every year year in NM. This is ONLY for the NM roundup, however it is the first critical step in getting the other remaining states with roundups to pay some attention to this barbaric practice. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LIVE IN NM TO SIGN THIS PETITION! Our goal is 10,000 signatures, which will be sent to the governors office. Our rescue's website is
http://www.awesomereptiles.com if you are interested in checking it out. The link to the petition is http://www.petitiononline.com/roundups/petition.html.

Thanks guys!

Abhishek

Granted, I play devil's advocate quite a bit when debating banning rattlesnake roundups.

Your petition states several times, "It is a fact..." but no references are included to back up the alleged facts. "Great risk" due to unsanitary conditions and the dreaded specter of salmonella poisoning seemed to be used as a scare tactic--what documented cases of any sickness, let alone salmonella poisoning, have resulted from the NM (or any) rattlesnake roundup?

Have studies been conducted on NM rattlesnake populations and the impact of roundups on said populations?
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Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

I did not write the petition myself, so it is not really "my" petition. Had I written it, I agree, certain things would have been worded different. I will agree with you on the salmonella issue, and I have emailed my buddy (who was involved in writing the petition) regarding it. Though there is a risk of salmonella, it is likely very slim. However, having attended the roundup in Alamogordo myself, I can tell you firsthand that the "chopping block" and butchering stations are anything but sanitary and hygenic.

Rattlesnake roundups are unregulated, there is no limit to how many rattlesnakes can be harvested from the wild. Being that rattlesnakes have relatively low fecundity in the wild, and that a large portion of the babies do not make it to adulthood in the first place, you can see that annually harvesting thousands of snakes, in addition to the snakes that are killed on the roads, by people who find them in their yards, etc., and you have a lot of rattlesnakes dying every year.

The issue regarding the inhumane treatment of these animals is important as well: if these were cute little bunny rabbits, you would have a huge public outcry...because they are cold-blooded, venomous reptiles, no one pays attention to the fact that these animals are being tortured and abused at these events. I don't think you can argue against the FACT that rattlesnakes are routinely treated inhumanely at most, if not all roundups.

Thanks for playing the devils advocate. If you do not want to sign the petition, that is fine. It is not a final draft. A hard copy petition will be circulated when the online petition has developed a solid amount of support. This is simply to show that there are many people who care and oppose the senseless slaughter of a very important organism in our ecosystem. If you cannot understand this, we do not need your support.

it is not so much " WHY " but how ! While I don't know the stats of the NM roundup/s , I very well know the statistics of "why" of the Oklahoma and Kansas roundups and it has been addressed to "how" very many times of past and I can absolutely guarantee that a measly 10,000 sigs or more of petition or other means won't stop these events ! it is for one thing to political. It is of economic value to the area and I hate to say even state of these events. The how to stop has been tried of all ways just to many times and if the species is shown of these events to endure harvesting with scientific data/value or relating to...........grant if a particular specie of such event is shown to be in jeopardy or some other specie and or factor such as environmental in which i understand as of the past and now almost obsolete eastern US roundups of particular EDBs, I could see petitions or such maybe work. I remember the even trying of boycotting the vendors and sponsors of the Sweet Water event to no avail. I remember out right protesters of some of the OK roundups to no avail. I think ( I could be wrong ) that some one or someones of my own state of Kansas as OK did a research paper or scientific data that these roundups had really no significant adverse condition to harvested numbers and still wild populations. Outside of that, we KNOW that gasoline is still used, we know that same species of these events are collected even maybe outside of the state of the event. We know that it IS rumored that there is a change for ingesting bacterial or something else of the meat because of unsanitary conditions. More /..........
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I may be old , cantankerous, crabby, and cynical, but......

It is easy to roll over and say it can't be done. Is it going to be an uphill battle? Of course it is. We're basically fighting an institution, which is the Alamogordo Rattlesnake RoundUp. They will argue that they have been doing it all along with "no problems", so why can't they continue.

Will we succeed? I don't know. Are the odds against us? Of course they are. But I'd rather fail miserably trying than fail miserably by doing nothing at all.

It is easy to roll over and say it can't be done. Is it going to be an uphill battle? Of course it is. We're basically fighting an institution, which is the Alamogordo Rattlesnake RoundUp. They will argue that they have been doing it all along with "no problems", so why can't they continue.

Will we succeed? I don't know. Are the odds against us? Of course they are. But I'd rather fail miserably trying than fail miserably by doing nothing at all.

That's a great attitude, and you're right. Arguments against PA roundups (which are on a slightly different level) have prompted the controlling wildlife agencey to propose tightened regulations on PA roundups that will do a lot to slow them down. No one ever said it was going to be easy, but that's no excuse not to try. I wish your group the best in making some headway in NM. There are only seven states left that allow roundups, and PA may finally be starting to phase them out.
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Jesse Rothacker
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary
Find out how YOU can get involved in reptile rescue...
www.forgottenfriend.org

it is for one thing to political. It is of economic value to the area and I hate to say even state of these events.

Sweetwater is probably a multimillion dollar operation, and the "extra" stuff makes a lot more money than the sale of snakes does (the surrounding carnival-type operation).

I think ( I could be wrong ) that some one or someones of my own state of Kansas as OK did a research paper or scientific data that these roundups had really no significant adverse condition to harvested numbers and still wild populations.

Off the record, I asked TPWD what they thought about Sweetwater, and one scientist said they didn't really concern themselves with it because it barely makes a dent in the TX atrox population. However, I can see how it would adversely impact the species in Arkansas.

Outside of that, we KNOW that gasoline is still used,

I'd almost go so far to say that the snakes contributed to roundups are LESS likely to be gassed out of burrows than snakes outright killed by ranchers and other landowners who have no connections to organized roundups.
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Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet