wildlife
Snakes alive
By Delin Cormeny Kansan staff writer
o, what exactly do
you bring to a rattlesake roundup?
Debbie Fischer, a rattleskease roundup organizer, suggests bringing a long, long—very long—stick with a claw and a trigger on it to catch the snakes, a pillowcase—or better yet, an iron box—to keep them in, rubber gloves "just in case" and a clear, sharp wit about you.
Other important items are a valid Kansas hunting license, ketchup for the snake meat and money to buy key chains, earrings, wallets, boots and other genuinely serpentine keepsakes.
"If it's big as what we're thinking it will be, it will double the population of this town." Fischer said.
This weekend, Kansas' first rattlesnake roundup will be held in the western town of Sharon Springs, population 900.
People may go on a snake hunt, savor snake meat and tell their friends they saw Ralph, the world's largest diamondback rattlesnake—straight from Las Vegas.
Judie Witers, a roundup organizer, said the community had been thinking about holding the roundup for two years.
"We have a lot of rattlesnakes in Wallace County, and we don't have a lot of tourists so we felt maybe the two might work together," she said.
But organizers are having to tread lightly, because many conservationists say, in the words of KU Professor Emeritus Henry Fitch, "Those are rather incompatible ideas."
Fitch, a zoologist, sad, "I'm not at all enthused to see roundups starting in Kansas. I think there is already too much pressure on wildlife of all kinds, and snakes particularly take a beating."
But he plans to attend the roundup in order to research the age structure of the snakes and to determine if the prairie rattlesnake population is over-hunted and exploited.
"All I want to do is examine the snakes and do some research and get some new data, so I hope I won't be caught in the sneeze," he said.
Ken Brunson, program coordinator for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, said he anticipated opponents of the roundup would be in attendance. One of these opponents is Joe Collins, zoologist and
One of these opponents is Joe Collins, zoologist and
editor of the Museum of Natural History.
of those is a return to the
"I'm very m u c h against the rattlesnake roundup," Collins said. "Holding one"
Dark Ages for handling wildlife in Kansas. We'll do everything we can to keep Sharon Springs from conducting the rattlesnake roundup and continuing to hold it in the future."
water and turn them loose after the event, not to cook and eat them.
But, Wittern said one of the points of holding such an event was to decrease the number of entries in the area.
to increase the number of rattlers in the area.
"If you're working in your yard, you always peering over your shoulder for a rattlesnake," she said. "They are a pest, and they are a problem."
She also said that the sponsors, a community improvement group called PRIDE and the Wallace County Jaycees, had repeatedly tried to get permission to give the live snakes to a research group in Colorado, but transportation of wildlife laws as well as the expense prevented them from doing it.
Brunson said killing the snakes was not a violation of Kansas law, as long as each person killed no more than five snakes.
"In the end they will be killed and done away with," she said. Free gourmet snake meat will be available.
Rattlesnake products will be available for purchase, however. Vendors from Oklahoma and Texas are allowed to sell the snake trinkets as long as the products were not made out of Kansas snakes.
"As long as they take the animal themselves it's theirs," he said. "They can kill it, eat it or keep it alive, but they cannot sell it."
Withers said, "They are not Kansas products, but they could be. We have a product here we want to sell, and
Firch said he was concerned with the importation of different species, such as diamondbacks, into the state.
Collins said that if the snakes got loose, they might introduce disease to the area.
But it is not against the law. Brunson said.
"I don't know of any restrictions on bringing diamond-back snakes into the state," he said. "There might be some regulations against letting them go, but I'm not aware of any."
He said law enforcement officers would be on hand to make sure no violations take place.
Violations include catching more than five snakes per person, not having a valid hunting license and selling whole or partial live or dead snakes.
"We will have officers there looking very closely at the legal aspects," he said.
Although there will not be a prize for the person who survives the longest after being bit by a snake, there is a White Fone Club certificate for those who do get bit.
Prizes will be awarded to hunters who capture the longest snakes and hunters who travel long distances to
"But hopefully we won't have to deal with that part of it," Fischer said.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Nightlife
Benchwarmer's Sports Bar
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Tonight: Millhous Nixons
Education Center, The Triangle
737 New Hampshire St.
Tonight; Ten Hands & Soul Shaker *$3 cover
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Brass Apple Sports Bar and Restaurant
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*Features 10 TVs and Monday Night Football Congo Bar 520 N. Third St.
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Movies
*Movies listings beginning Friday Sept. 4 through Thursday, Sept. 10*
**Crown Cinema Theatres**
Movie Hotline 841-5191
**Cinematine Twintheatre**
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House Sitter PG
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**Dickinson Theatres**
2339 Iowa St.
Movie Line 841-8600
Honeymoon in Vegas PG-13
A League of Their Own PG
Pet Semetary 2 R
Rapid Fire R
Sister Act PG-13
Unforgiven R
**Hillcrest Theatres**
Ninth & Iowa streets
3 Ninjas PG
Death Becomes Her PG-13
F.R.O.G. 7 G
Patriot Games PG-13
Raising Cain R
Single White Female R
Unlawful Entry R
**Liberty Hall Theatre**
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Line 749-1912
Enchanted April PG
Twin Peaks-Fire Walk With Me R
**Varsity Theatre**
1015 Jacksonville
1015 Massachusetts St.
Christopher Columbus PG-13
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