Willie Holster insists he did not lose a bet.
He says that crawling into a sleeping bag with 105 live rattlesnakes was about facing his fears.
Holster, a mechanic from Brownwood, was the first contestant at the 46th Brownwood Rattlesnake Roundup to take on the world record of 112 snakes, currently held by “Texas Snake Man” Jackie Bibby of Rising Star.
Holster had never handled rattlesnakes before entering the demonstration pit at the Brownwood Coliseum on Saturday but had long been fascinated by them.
“Some friends of mine have been doing it for a long time, and they got me into it,” Holster said. “I just decided to enter, to face my fears and see if I could do it.”
Before he could compete, Holster had to sign an indemnity waiver, indicating that he realized the risk he was taking. Even with EMTs and trained professionals with venom extractors and snakebite kits on hand, getting up-close and personal with more than 100 Western diamondback rattlers is no walk in the park.
For the contest, Holster lay inside a sleeping bag while Kat Stevens, who has worked with Bibby for nearly 20 years as a “rattlesnake wrangler,” grabbed snakes from around the pit using a special tool and placed them inside the bag. Contest rules provide 10 minutes for as many snakes to be placed inside the bag as possible. The contestant must then stay inside the bag for a total of 10 seconds. When the 10 seconds are up, the bag is unzipped and the snakes are counted as they are removed.
When the counting was done, Holster’s number stood at 105, seven short of the world record.
“Well, 105 is a record for me. I’m not too upset about that,” Holster said. “This was the first time I’ve ever done this, and it’s such an adrenaline rush. Once that first snake is in, you get over the nerves real quick. It’s just a matter of laying there and trusting the people you’re working with, and I trust Kat enough to put my life in her hands, literally.”
Bibby was on hand Saturday to witness the attempts at besting his record. He was scheduled to take part today, with a chance to reclaim should anyone pass his mark.
Bibby has been a part of the Brownwood roundup for the past 42 years. He first got into the rattlesnake show scene through “sacking” — a competition where a team of two is timed on how quickly it can stuff 10 rattlesnakes into a burlap sack. He holds the world record in that event, too, at 17.11 seconds.
“I once got bit during a competition, which means a five-second penalty, and I still won,” Bibby said. “I’ve won over a hundred trophies for sacking so far.”
Bibby has been bitten nine times during his career, each bite taking a heavy toll on his hands and arms.
While the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Round-Up, the world’s largest, gets more attention and publicity, the Brownwood show enjoys a different sort of reputation.
Bibby, one of the organizers of the Brownwood show, said: “We’re a dog-and-pony show. We’re here for the entertainment factor. We do a little educational stuff, how to handle snakebites and so on, but we’re mostly known for the daredevil stuff.”
The show, which is hosted by the Brownwood Jaycees, brings in 4,000 to 10,000 visitors, and several thousand dollars for the organization each year.