thousands of people gathered in a small texas town this weekend to watch rattlesnakes get cleaned, skinned, milked and more   some visitors even left their mark on the wall with bloody hand prints the annual sweetwater jaycee’s world’s largest rattlesnake roundup hosts hunts, beauty and eating contests, demonstrations, vendors selling snake skin products and more attendees could even buy fried rattlesnake, which apparently takes like chicken before the snakes are cooked, however, they are passed through an assembly line, where they are killed, decapitated, then cleaned and skinned as they hang from a wire the roundup, which has been going on since 1958 and is the oldest and grandest in texas, began to control the population of rattlesnakes in the area, according to the odessa american, but now more people are drawn to the sheer awe of the event scroll down for video  keith willman adjusts snakes in a pit to keep them from suffocating during the 2015 world's largest rattlesnake roundup on saturday in sweetwater, texas willman said if they don't get stirred up, the snakes on the bottom of the pile could suffocate from the weight of the snakes on top of them  a group of boys watch a rattlesnake in a pit at the sweetwater jaycees world's largest rattlesnake roundup as a snake handler makes sure the snakes are moved around  a handler shows off a rattlesnakes fangs, which are connected by venom ducts to poison glands in the snake's jaw when fangs are not in use, they fold against the snake's palate  a crowed watches a handler behead rattlesnakes before they are skinned a bolt is fired into the snake's head before it is chopped off  sweetwater jaycees clean and skin the rattlesnakes before they are cooked onlookers help clean and skin the reptiles if they wanted  a crowed watches handlers clean and skin rattlesnakes during the 2015 sweetwater jaycees world largest rattlesnake roundup at the nolan county coliseum  the rattlesnakes are suspended in the air as handlers clean and skin the reptiles crowds gather as the handlers approach the snakes barehanded  the four day event takes place in sweetwater's nolan county coliseum, which is also used for the county fair, rodeos and other large events in the area the event brings more than $2million into sweetwater   a town with a population of 11,400   and proceeds go toward community projects, youth sports and helping the disabled and disadvantaged a hunt for snakes starts about a month before the roundup, and hunters are able to harvest about 5,000 pounds of snakes   which averages out into about 1,000 snakes hunters use a gassing technique, where they spray gasoline through copper tubes to lure the snakes from their hiding places zavriel ramirez, 8, from hereford, texas, peers over the wall watching rattlesnakes get skinned and cleaned  makenna thurman, of sweetwater, texas, helps clean and skin a rattlesnake that the roundup on friday  hand prints made from snake blood decorate the wall behind the snake skinning booth those onlookers brave enough to help skin a snake can put their hand on the wall for all to see  eric olivarez, from lubbock, texas, puts his hand prints on the wall after skinning a rattlesnake on saturday at the roundup  the roundup featured demonstrations, eating contests, cleaning and skinning viewings and more throughout the four day event  crowds came from all over to the 11,400 person town to attend the annual rattlesnake roundup, which has been held annually since the 1950s  larry martin prepares to milk a rattlesnake as a crowd watches the demonstration the four day event brings about $2million into the sweetwater community  but the gassing method is controversial in texas, as people fear it hurts other animals and habitats, and could be facing a ban, leaving an uncertain future for the roundup hunters use the gasoline to hunt in large volume in colder, wetter weather if gassing is banned, they will potentially have to postpone the roundup though the texas wildlife department has been looking into gassing for years and nearly banned it in 2013, the organization delayed making a decision until september so sweetwater representatives and researchers could propose an alternative solution some opponents to the roundup are concerned with the treatment and slaying of the rattlesnakes and suggested a no kill roundup jaycees, however, told the odessa american that it would be irresponsible to release such a dangerous creature back into the area after capturing it larry martin milks a rattlesnake during a demonstration proceeds from the event pay community projects, youth sports and helping the poor and disabled in sweetwater  larry martin shows a recently milked rattlesnake to the crownd and even lets a young girl touch the end of its body as a crowd watches  sweetwater jaycees say that the the roundup harvests about 5,000lb of snakes each year, which serves as a form of population control the venom from the snakes is sold to an alabama pharmaceutical company  tumul singh, from midland, texas, smiles for a photo as sweetwater jaycees member, dennis cumbie, wraps a rattlesnake around his neck  kai cruz, 7, from lubbock, texas, reaches out to touch a rattlesnake being shown off in the milking pit during a demonstration on saturday  ralph kuechle, of buhl, minnesota, catches a rattlesnake during a hunt at the sweetwater jaycees world's largest rattlesnake roundup  rattlesnake hunters use a gas to lure the snakes out of their hiding places, but with a potential ban on the methods of catching the snakes, sweetwater is unsure as to what will happen with the roundup in years to come 
world's largest rattlesnake roundup the nolan county coliseum sweetwater texas
the annual sweetwater jaycee's world's largest rattlesnake roundup has been going on since 1958 . it hosts hunts, beauty and eating contests, demonstrations, vendors selling snake skin products and more . the four day event takes place in the nolan county coliseum in sweetwater, texas, a town with a population of 11,400 . attendees could help skin and clean the rattlesnakes and put their blood covered hand prints on the wall . though originally created to control snake population, people from all over visit now to see the massive event 