Sweetwater, Texas has held its annual "World's Largest Rattlesnake Roundup" for 58 years running. Originally born out of local ranchers' efforts to clear the "varmints" off their land, where they can harm or kill dogs, livestock and people, the Roundup is now the single biggest tourist draw to Sweetwater.
Shannon Sanderford, Miss Texas 2015, just after her turn beheading snakes with a machete in the Skinning Pit. The Sweetwater Roundup kills all its snakes, making it a frequent target for criticism. However, the festival does make an effort to take the Roundup beyond meaningless slaughter: it runs a milking pit collecting venom, fries up rattlesnake meat for consumption, and repurposes skins, fangs, bones and heads.
Texas State Representative Susan King wore a rattlesnake-head necklace as she mingled with constituents in the "backstage" area of the Roundup.
In 2016, the Roundup welcomed an all-time record number of snakes: 24,481 pounds in total, or about 10,000 individual live snakes. The Sweetwater Jaycees, a local men's community non-profit, runs the roundup each year and buys the live snakes delivered by ranchers and hunters on a per-pound basis. For the first time ever, the Jaycees had to shut down snake intake on Friday due to the unprecedented volume.
Many Sweetwater kids get involved with the Roundup from an early age. This young man, whose father manned the chopping block, was a volunteer in the skinning pit.
A patriotic festival guest on his way to the Roundup's adjoining carnival. The 2015 Roundup drew over 25,000 visitors, with a report estimating that the Roundup generated $8.4M and over 100 full time jobs for Sweetwater - a huge boon for a small town in a difficult, windswept region.
Each year since the second Roundup in 1959, Sweetwater has chosen a "Miss Snake Charmer," who dons Kevlar chaps to wade into a pit of live snakes in her tiara and sash. This year's winner, Alyssa Soles, is the daughter of a prominent Jaycee.
Though he speaks little English, Sweetwater resident Felix Hernandez gets into the spirit of the town's snake obsession.
Jaycees transfer live snakes to the Skinning Pit in yellow trash cans, where workers behead them before passing them along to the skinners. The chopping block, manned by the cheerful and unflappable Figueroa brothers, is an efficient operation. This year, they upgraded their machete to a "Zombie Hunter" model.
Sweetwater lies in a notoriously harsh region of Texas. Aside from the Roundup, perhaps its greatest claim to fame comes from Dorothy Scarborough's novel The Wind. The novel, published in 1925, depicts a Texas landscape so drab, cruel and windswept that it slowly drives the novel's heroine to insanity and murder. Scarborough, who grew up in Sweetwater, later became a literature professor at Columbia; her novel later became a film starring Lillian Gish.
One of dozens of pickups lined up Friday night to deliver thousands of live snakes, most held in jerry-rigged containers. For the first time ever, the Roundup had to turn away live snakes due to overwhelming volume. Even so, the Jaycees were forced to construct 10 extra holding pens from plywood and duct tape to hold all the snakes.
Two local boys enjoy the reptilian spectacle.
Each year, the Gun and Knife Show adjoining the Roundup is a popular side attraction. In 2015, it drew over 6,000 visitors.
A 19-year-old soldier on leave from Fort Hood visited the Roundup with two Army friends. His tattoo reads "Blood means we're related / Loyalty means we're family."
This Jaycee worked the Roundup with his son, whose children also attended.
Past a certain age, men become "Roosters," or Jaycee emeriti. Rooster Ted Thomas is a long-serving veteran of the Roundup.
Randal's Wildlife Creations mans a booth at the Roundup every year, selling dozens of different rattlesnake-derived products. Examples include belts and hatbands; earrings made from rattlesnake fangs, rattles, verterbrae and heads; and whole stuffed snakes.
Families come from across West Texas to enjoy the Roundup, a bright spot on local calendars. 80% of Roundup visitors surveyed in 2015 came from within Texas.
Ongoing controversy dogs the public-slaughter elements of the Roundup. Some visitors praise the educational elements of the Roundup and note that society often hides the harsh reality of butchering animals for consumption; one wrote "Bravo for not hiding this process!" Others cringe at the gruesome aspects of the spectacle -- particularly the tradition of having guests who skin snakes rub their hands in the blood and sign their bloody handprints.
Young visitors enjoy the snakes. A 2015 report estimated that the average out-of-town visitor spent $200 per day, generating over $3M each for local lodging and retail.
The unprecedented delivery of 10,000 live snakes overwhelmed skinning pit staff, but will likely be a boon to snakeskin vendors. A rattlesnake-skin belt can cost $80 or more-- a significant expenditure in a town where the average visitor spent only $50 per night on their lodging during the Roundup.
A barbecue contestant inside her prep tent. Dozens of RVs and mobile smokers dot the Roundup's festival grounds, housing teams that come from all over Texas to compete in the Roundup's barbecue competition.
James Jr. regards the Roundup as a family affair, bringing his father, wife, and two children.
A skinning pit worker visits the concession stand for a quick coffee before the day's long, bloody work begins.
Greg and Gary, twins out of Ohio, have been driving down to Sweetwater for the Roundup each year for 26 years running. Asked what kept them coming despite the 40-hour roundtrip drive, they paused. "Well," said one, "I guess it's our shared love of hunting reptiles."
The Skinning Pit on Sunday, near the festival's end.
Some critics argue that the Roundup is endangering rattlesnake populations in the area; Jaycees counter that they have been hunting the same ranches and dens for decade, witnessing no significant decline. The Jaycees were quick to note this year's unprecedented snake volume undermined claims about population decline.
A snake-hunting team called The Regulators often wins the "Total Snake Pounds" category, and this year they brought in well over a ton of live snakes. But Darryl McIntyre, pictured here, beat The Regulators by bringing in 3,428 pounds of live snakes.
The Jaycees have developed standard equipment for handling and weighing snakes. Equipment includes thick cowboy boots; Kevlar chaps duct-taped to boots to prevent snakes crawling up pants legs; "grabber" sticks for picking up snakes; and standardized yellow trash cans. Black felt cowboy hats are also standard-- Western etiquette deems straw cowboy hats appropriate only between Easter and Labor Day.
The younger sister of this year's Miss Snake Charmer poses with a freshly killed snake while her sister, standing nearby, prophesies that she'll be "Miss Snake Charmer 2026."
A former president of the Sweetwater Jaycees, photographed outside the local Whataburger.
Freshly skinned snakes fill a biohazard bag in the skinning pit. The snakes keep wriggling for a half hour or more after being killed and skinned.
Steward Guest works in the Skinning Pit. He grew visibly more exhausted over the course of the weekend.
Red Hurd II, exhausted, takes a cigarette break in the skinning pit. By Sunday evening most visitors had left, but the skinners still faced a long slog. Skinning 10,000 snakes is a monumental task, even with a disassembly line as sophisticated as theirs.