1.  Who sponsors the rattlesnake roundup?
      Whigham Community Club, Whigham, Ga.

2.  What happens to the rattlesnakes at the end of the day?  In the past snakes are sold to a Research Organization to make antivenum for snakebites and other medicines. 

But, snakes from the 2002 roundup were sold to a company for meat and skins.

3.  What are approved methods of collecting the rattlesnakes? Very Carefully! 

Any method that does not injure the snake.  Some folks just reach down and grab them. This will be demonstrated at the RattleSnake Roundup.

4.  Does one have to be licensed to remove rattlesnakes from the wild? 
I do not think so (but I don't hunt snakes). Please check with the Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources.

5.  How has this annual rattlesnake roundup affected the population (including the maturity) of the snakes?
There has been a noticeable decrease in the rattlesnake population and snake-bite injures in the past 20 years in the local area.  This is also evidenced by the decreasing size of snakes and numbers caught each year at the rattlesnake roundup.  The decrease of the local rattlesnake population was one of the first reasons for the annual hunt.  It is believed that without the annual hunt that the local rattlesnake population would return to the pre-hunt population levels within a few years.

6.  Any historical origins of the roundup? 
The rattlesnake roundup is 40 years old. What started as a small, but unusal, club project in 1960 has become an annual feature of the Whigham Community Club, and attracts national attenion by the press and other news media.

Reptile experts give education lectures and demonstrations at each roundup.