Sweetwater, a small rural town in Texas, has less than 11,000 residents, but thousands of tourists visit the place each year to witness an interesting event: World’s Largest Rattlesnake Roundup. This year’s event ended on Sunday where more than 30,000 visitors came to see thousands of rattlesnakes.

People not only watch rattlesnakes during the event, but also take part by skinning them. Many participants made handprints on a wall with the rattlesnakes’ blood. Jaycees, Sweetwater’s Junior Chamber of Commerce, said the annual roundup is a necessary way to protect humans, curb overpopulation and keep city’s other animals safe.

Several species of venomous snakes, such as copperheads, rattlesnakes, cottonmouths and coral snakes, bite more than 7,000 people in the US every year and about five people lose their life as a result of snakebite, as per a report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ?

Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes, but they bite humans only if they deliberately interfere with the snakes, said Auburn University reptile biologist David Steen. While criticizing Sweetwater’s World’s Largest Rattlesnake Roundup, Steen said Jaycees is completely wrong in linking human safety to rattlesnakes’ killing.

If an individual is not interfering with the snakes, chances of getting bitten become very low, Steen informed. “What does a snake have to gain by attacking you? It’s not going to try to eat you. If we respect their place in the environment and also respect their space, then I think we can live alongside them with no problem at all”, Steen added.

As per official records of the US Department of Agriculture, there is no cattle death due to rattlesnake’s bite last year. But supporters of the annual event believe the roundup is a tradition and a profitable one.