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Powerful Living


Den of Death By Charles W. Sasser B hecklers.


“Rattlesnakes are not normally aggressive,” Felder lectures to the crowd as he strolls casually around the ring, bare feet sometimes within reach of ser- pents whose deadly fangs account for 7,000 to 8,000 bites each year in the United States. He has hunted and handled rattlers for 25 years and never been bitten.


A collective gasp suddenly erupts from spectators when a large rattler sinks its fangs into the leg of fellow Roundup demonstrator Gene Pendergraft. Pendergraft hobbles out of the ring to safety and shrugs off the wound; it sometimes comes with the territory. Okeene, Okla., is a one-motel town with a popu- lation of about 1,200 on the plains of Western Oklahoma in Cimarron Electric Cooperative ser- vice territory. Rattlers in the surrounding gypsum hills considerably outnumber people. Each spring, hunters from around the world gravitate to the little town, increasing the population by tenfold as they compete to capture—alive—the area’s biggest snakes. The hunt culminates during a long weekend cel- ebration in May with “snake snacks” on the carni- val fairway, games, rides, souvenirs, live music, the “snake dance,” a motorcycle poker run, and the “Den of Death” where hundreds of snakes are counted and measured for prizes. The May 2-4, 2014, Roundup marked the hunt’s 75th Anniversary, attracting 10,000 to 15,000 spectators and about 100 hunters. “It keeps Okeene on the map,” Felder comments. “Otherwise it would dry up and blow away.”


arefooted, Todd Felder enters the “Den of Death.” Piles of diamondback rattle- snakes collected for the annual Okeene Rattlesnake Roundup hiss and buzz like


Four other towns in Oklahoma—Mangum,


Apache, Waynoka, and Waurika—host hunts, but Okeene claims the title of the world’s fi rst and Oklahoma’s largest rattlesnake roundup. The tradi- tion began generations ago when residents turned out each spring to protect livestock and people by killing off rattlers. In 1939, Orville Von Gulker or- ganized the fi rst “roundup” and turned the spring ritual into an annual competition by bringing in the rattlers alive. The yearly snake stalking season lasts from March


1 to June 1, with hunting and conservation rules similar to those for deer, quail and other game ani- mals. An Oklahoma hunting license is required, along with a small Roundup fee in order to qualify for prizes. “We don’t want to eliminate rattlers,” says Bill


Baker, a retired plumber and Todd Felder’s hunting partner. “We want them around to hunt for another 75 years.” Felder, a registered nurse who commutes to work at St. Mary’s Hospital in Enid, Okla., remembers hunting rattlers with his father and uncle when he was fi ve years old and riding on his father’s shoul-


ders in the snake pit. Baker began his snake career later in life. “I was scared to death of snakes back then,” he


says. The 32 known species of rattlesnakes are native only to the Americas. They range from southern Alberta and British Columbia in Canada to central Argentina, a majority of which inhabit the American Southwest and Mexico.


Armed with commercial snake catchers resem- bling elongated meat tongs, hunters on the trail of game scour the low gypsum “glass hills” around Okeene. The area’s many fi ssures, cracks, caves and rocky escarpments provide cover and prey for rat- tlesnakes, which feed upon small animals, rodents and even insects. Mice are a particular delicacy. Rattlers, in turn, are hunted by coyotes, eagles, hawks, owls, feral pigs, badgers and other snakes like the king snake, which is immune to venom. Rattlers are oviferous, giving birth to live young after incubating the eggs inside their bodies. Neonates, when they are small and weak, provide meals for predatory birds like jays, kingfi shers and buzzards. Even mice and some species of ants feed on the baby snakes. Nearly every day after the season began found


A carnival fairway offering treats found almost nowhere else. Photo by Charles Sasser


Felder and Baker poking around in the hills. They set a personal goal of collecting 200 pounds of snakes. “Two reasons we hunt,” Felder says. “It manages the population and prevents upsetting the eco- system. Also, I show snakes to educate the public.” While rattlesnakes are the leading cause of snake- bite in North America, their bites are rarely fatal if treated promptly. An average of only fi ve people die each year from the venom. Snake handler Gene Pendergraft does not intend to be one of them. Captured rattlesnakes are sold for $8 a pound and prepared for consumption


Continued on Page 19 SEPTEMBER 2014 17


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