Man Bathes With Rattlesnakes
The tiny Coryell County town of Oglesby is known for its rattlesnakes and this weekend, 3,000 people piled around a snake pit to see a world record shattered.
KCEN was there to meet the “Snake Man” before his slithery bath.In the snake pit, Heart of Texas Snake Handlers President Jackie Bibby is a star. “Having been bit numerous times,” he says, “I do know and understand the effect of a rattlesnake bite.”
Bibby is from Rising Star, Texas and is at the 42nd annual “Rattlesnake Round-up” to increase his own star power. “I’ll be trying to get in the bathtub with more than 120 rattlesnakes.”
Yep…a snake bath with at least 121 rattlers to break a Guinness Book world record. “Once I get the record in the can,” he says, “after that the rest is gonna be icing on the cake.”
The snakes thrown in the tub are not trained and tamed. They are Central Texas rattlers, through and through. Oglesby Lion’s Club President Duane Heiner says, “We have snake handlers and snake hunters that go out throughout the county, throughout various counties. They go round up a bunch of rattlesnakes and bring them in.”
With a crowd gathered around and some excited “Snake Man” fans, Bibby broke the world record, sitting in the tub with 123 snakes.
While the risk of these slitherers is extreme, it is one Bibby says he lives for. “You’re never more alive than when you’re near death,” he says.
Wonder what is done with all of these rattlesnakes after the round-up? Many snake hunters sell the meat to a buyer, who then sells it to Asian countries where the meat is considered a delicacy.
