Let me just say, you haven’t lived until you have attended the Freer, Texas Rattlesnake RoundUp. At first it seems just like a quaint little festival out in the dry dirt in deep south Texas. As you walk up you see the parade float for the Rattlesnake RoundUp queens. Walking around the festival you see these girls with their tiaras that are larger than their heads dressed in their finest. They have a car and bicycle show with vehicles that have been customized to the Nth degree, really just a feast for the eyes. It is a cross section of locals with great character, even an older hispanic gentleman dressed up, lip syncing and dancing like Michael Jackson complete with red jacket and single glove. There are bands playing music, booths selling food and beer, and a vendor market with all things rattlesnake. I purchased some rattlesnake button earrings; yes, they rattle in the wind. And they have a big rattlesnake in a box on display. I thought this would be it as far as rattlesnake viewing was involved. However, as the pictures speak, there were definitely MORE rattlesnakes. They had this flimsy particleboard fence built. Inside said fence was literally hundreds of rattlesnakes in little piles snaking around. There were 3 or 4 people who worked inside the fence and picked the snakes up and let you hold them or put them around your neck while you photographed them. The snakes would slither around and strike at their legs. They all wore snake boots; I felt I would need a snake suit to get in some place like that. One guy picked up a snake and curled it around and around until the snake made a ball; no, the snake did not like that. I had the opportunity to visit with this guy. I asked him if he worried about being in there with all those snakes. Turns out he lives in a mobile home in Oklahoma and kept all these snakes in his living room loose. He said on the way down to Texas they had rented a motel room and kept the air conditioning down way low; thus in the morning the snakes were pretty lethargic. He said as the day and heat progresses; the rattlesnakes wake up and it becomes more tedious to handle them. Most of the snake handlers were really nice and respectful of the snakes and really liked educating people about them. Another fellow jumped in after his break, he was more of a loose cannon I’d say. He proudly told the story about some guy the year before dying due to a snake jumping and biting the guy in his artery next to his heart. He died instantly. This guy is also the one who would hold the snakes by the end of their tales and the snakes would stretch out and hiss and he’d wheel their faces across in the faces of the audience that stood along the fence line and laugh heartily as the audience members jumped back in shock. But the craziest thing of all was the young pretty girl, who tucked her jeans into her snake boots, LAID on the ground inside of a sleeping bag and just casually took a break and looked at her phone while a guy starts shoving like 10 or 15 rattlesnakes into that sleeping bag with her. No one died; but I do think I had a little heart attack watching all of that! So, yes, I recommend going to the Rattlesnake RoundUp. I did have it recommended to our group that it’s best to go during the day, as it gets pretty rowdy at night and can be a little dangerous, but not because of the snakes. But, if you can go during the day, by all means do! It’s just a really neat festival. In fact, I wish that I was a professional photographer because it was really beautiful and full of color and interesting things to see.