The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department is considering a proposal to ban the use of gasoline in capturing rattlesnakes. Currently, hunters spray gas into rattlesnake dens to force the snakes out with fumes, but this method often kills other animals in the dens. This practice typically occurs just before rattlesnake roundups, such as the Sweetwater event, which is the largest in the state and one of the few remaining in the country where rattlesnakes are displayed and then killed for their meat, skins, and rattles.
Dennis Cumbie, a lifetime Jaycee member and chairman of the milking pit at the Roundup, emphasized the importance of gassing, stating, ‘It’s very important for us because it’s the method we use primarily to catch volumes of snakes. Sweetwater’s got the world’s largest rattlesnake roundup. We average 4-5,000 pounds of snakes per year. Without the gassing we wouldn’t have those numbers.’ Removing such large numbers of snakes from ecosystems impacts rodent population control, as rattlesnakes help manage these populations. Currently, 29 states prohibit the gassing of snake dens, but Texas is not among them and hosts the most popular and largest rattlesnake roundup annually. However, the gassing of rattlesnake dens may soon end. The Snake Harvest Working Group, appointed by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department to examine gassing and other capture methods, is considering a ban on gassing western diamondback rattlesnakes by May 25.
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