Wow! Sorry to pull an old thread up, but thought I would add some interesting information. Aside from bowhunting, another hobby of mine is reptiles. To better clarify that, snakes. I currently only have two boas and two pythons. In reality, that are one of the most misunderstood animals. Aside from my collection, I have several personal friends in NC and GA that are experienced in venomous snakes. One of them with over 30+ venomous snakes ranging from copperheads to cobras. Venomous snakes will only bite as a last resort. Trust me, they always will look to escape and only strike when they are cornered or feel threatened. If you don't believe that, the next time you see one, stop and see what happens. Now when you walk up on them and startle them, it's a different story. They are at that point going to feel threatened. There are a few such as cottonmouths that have an overall nasty temperment. But so many people tend to think snakes will chase you down and eat you alive. There are so many myths it's not even worth going through and explaining all of them. As far as killing them for their skin and the rattlesnake round-ups. I am strictly against such. In reality, I don't think any animal should be butchered just for their skin and because others want fancy belts and boots. I highly doubt anyone would want to be gassed and driven out of their home only to be butchered for their skin? Sorry if you get offended North Texan, but that's my personal view and every year several forums related to reptiles get together to donate money for those experienced with venomous species to go to the round-ups and buy all they can with the donated money and a large sum of their own to try and rehab them. Some live and others don't have any hope. Keep in mind, once these animals are removed from the wild and rehabbed they cannot be released back to the wilderness due to range locations and other health factors. My advice is this, respect them and they will respect you. If you try to muck with them and kill them, then the odds of you getting bit are doubled.