Sweetwater (current population ~10,000) boasts the world's largest Roundup, and sees 30,000 visitors every year. There are several different areas inside the Nolan County Coliseum where it’s held. One section has the Milking Pit, where the snakes’ fangs are milked for their venom, which can then be used to make antivenin (aka antivenom) to treat rattlesnake bites. In another section the snakes are weighed and measured, after which judges offer prizes for categories such as the longest (current champion is 6 feet, 9 inches/2.07 meters), most number of rattles, and the highest number of pounds brought in.

Another section has the Miss Snake Charmer, where the winner of the pageant shows off her skills. She starts by cutting the head off a snake, much like how the head of the goose was removed at the end of the movie The Christmas Story. She then hangs it up, takes a knife and slits it from end to end, then peels the skin off with her bare hands. 

Yes, her bare hands. Her white sash was pretty bloody by the time I saw her. 

In yet another area of the coliseum you can buy fried rattlesnake meat, freshly killed. I was expecting it to taste like chicken, but mostly it tasted like batter.

I’ve come to love the small town festivals, and have been to a number of them. There’s the GatorFest in Anahuac, Texas, which celebrates alligators. Or the Great Texas Mosquito Festival in Clute, Texas. One of the attendees told me about Miss Skeeter: “She ain’t too purdy, but she sure can suck.” I suspect the joke has been around as many years as the pageant.

But I digress. Let’s get back to the road.