Rattlesnake Roundup in Freer, Texas

On Saturday, we piled into the van and drove 1-1/2 hours to Freer, Texas, to attend the annual Rattlesnake Roundup. It was wonderful.
This event is the main event of the year here. Folks spent the week rounding up rattlers and bringing them in. The three things I first noticed when we got there were the loud country music, the smell of onion rings frying, and the sound of all the rattling!
Aren't they huge?! I will never feel the same way about a rattler. Not as scary.
All the handlers wore some kind of protection up to their knees. I was really surpised that the snakes didn't attack them more often. I only saw two snakes strike. The amazing thing is that these are snakes brought in daily from the wild. They are hungry. They are not trained!The handlers were very friendly. They willingly answered hundreds of questions, and posed for pictures.
This guy scared me with his fearlessness. He's only been bitten once...on the finger. His finger is a little misshapen as a result. And this is his 2 year old son...
...who is also fearless. He played with a bull snake on the sidelines. He cried whenever someone took away his snake:-) Tel perre, tel fils!
One of the favorite tricks was for a handler to hold the balloon for a snake to bite. The second favorite trick was to put this pile of rattlers into a sleeping bag...

...that was occupied! Yikes!

Our only regret was that the line for fried rattlesnake was too long. They just couldn't keep up with demand. Dad bought Maggie a rattlesnake skin which made her day. Maggie has always wanted to tan a copperhead hide.

The rest of the area was like a typical county fair. Here are the Baptists selling refreshments. The Methodists stand sold chili pies.

Ruthie wanted to spend her time at the petting zoo. We let her ride the miniature pony, but she was really too big.

On the way home we stopped at the tiny town of Rosita. It's not on the map, so I couldn't find the population number. We ate a late lunch at the cute, little restaurant. It was the best Mexican food we've tasted. Everything was homemade ~ the guacamole, the corn and flour tortillas, the seasoned meat, etc. Yummy! They even had the best iced tea. Down here in Texas, every time we order iced tea, it comes with a miniature green lime. Much better than lemon!

The icing on the cake was when the train came through town while we were there. I love trains!

We did a google search on rattlesnake+roundups, and found some in Pennsylvania this summer! We'll have to see if we can fit that in our schedule.

This is our last week here in Texas. We are trying to think of everything we want to see and do before we leave. Boo hoo. We have enjoyed ourselves immensely. The best part is that Maggie's nerves are unpinched. Now we have to find a chiropractor in Maryland who will continue her treatments. We are praying hard about that.

Enjoy spring. Many blessings ~ Kathie