Texas's Derik Snake Hunting Tradition Reaps Criticism, Going On Since 1958

Illustration of a derik snake. (Wikimedia Commons/Patrick Alexander)

JAKARTA - The city of Sweetwater in Texas, United States, is best known as home to the world's largest annual "giric snake collection", where thousands of venomous snakes weighing thousands of kilograms are removed from their nests and exhibited.

These venomous snakes were collected on the second weekend of March and then taken to a colliseum, where tens of thousands of visitors watched the organizers redden their could. These snakes pulsate, show its rot and surprise the audience with its strength before it was used as material for the skin.

However, this tradition, which has started since 1958, has actually drawn criticism, not only for its murder, but also for the methods used to remove the snakes. It is known, the hunters injected gasoline into the rock gaps where the snakes spent cooler months.

"We'll put about a quarter of the cup, maybe half a cup of gasoline on the back and they don't like the smoke," said Tuesday snake hunter Jeffery Cornett, quoted by Reuters on April 16.

"So what's going to happen is, you know, they're going out to breathe fresh air. And when they start moving forward, you know, we're going to start catching them," he said.

Meanwhile, Matt Goode, a venomous snake expert and research scientist at the University of Arizona, said such arrests were "terrible."

Hunting can be a good way to manage animal populations, but it must be properly regulated, he said, adding that putting gas in a nest can injure other wildlife.

Separately, Operations Director of the Rattlesnake Conservancy Tiffany Bright said Texas could learn from other states governing the collection of deric snakes, such as Pennsylvania.

"So, the hunters have a limit on how manytric snakes they can collect," explained Bright.

"Meanwhile in Texas, there are no surveillance or regulations for hunting these animals. You can get out, you can pour as much gasoline into the environment and you can collect as many electric snakes as you can find," he said.