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Texan sets record with 87 rattlers in bathtub
He can have the record. I don't want it.
05:50 PM CST on Monday, November 5, 2007
The Associated Press
DUBLIN, Texas – Another day, another bizarre world record for Jackie Bibby, "The Texas Snake Man."
Bibby spent about 45 minutes in a see-through bathtub with 87 rattlesnakes Monday, shattering his own record by 12 snakes just in time for Guinness World Records Day, which is Thursday. The record was certified by a Guinness official.
Bibby said the snakes crawled under his arms, between his legs and anywhere else they could slither. None of the snakes bit him.
"They can go wherever they want as long as they don't start biting," Bibby said. "The key to not biting is for me to stay still. Rapid movement scares a rattlesnake. If you move real slow and gentle, that doesn't seem to bother them."
Bibby sat in the dry tub with a pillow propped behind him to make him more comfortable. He wore regular clothing, and the snakes were not defanged and still contained their venom, he said. Workers placed the snakes in one at a time and removed them one at a time.
The clear bathtub was specially made several years ago for Bibby by the Guinness folks for a televised segment. He's used the tub for subsequent attempts at the record for sitting in a tub with snakes.
"I have set several world records in that bathtub," Bibby said.
The record was Bibby's latest grab at glory. Last year he set a Guinness-certified record by holding 10 rattlesnakes by their tails in his mouth at once. He said he plans to break that record Tuesday by squeezing in an 11th.
The Texas Snake Man also said he holds non-sanctioned records for climbing into a sleeping bag head first with 20 rattlesnakes and going in feet first with 112. The latter record, Bibby said, is the answer to a question in the board game Trivial Pursuit.
Bibby also claims numerous movie, TV and theater credits, playing such roles as Hostage on Plane, Hillbilly, Liquor Store Owner and Irate Bar Patron.
The acting and the snakes are ways for Bibby to stay in the limelight, he said.
"I do it for the attention," Bibby said. "I like being on television. I signed autographs for 45 minutes today."
Dublin is about 120 miles southwest of Dallas and about 150 miles east of Sweetwater, site of the World's Largest Rattlesnake Roundup, an annual event that collects thousands of pounds worth of rattlesnakes.
The Associated Press
DUBLIN, Texas – Another day, another bizarre world record for Jackie Bibby, "The Texas Snake Man."
Bibby spent about 45 minutes in a see-through bathtub with 87 rattlesnakes Monday, shattering his own record by 12 snakes just in time for Guinness World Records Day, which is Thursday. The record was certified by a Guinness official.
Bibby said the snakes crawled under his arms, between his legs and anywhere else they could slither. None of the snakes bit him.
"They can go wherever they want as long as they don't start biting," Bibby said. "The key to not biting is for me to stay still. Rapid movement scares a rattlesnake. If you move real slow and gentle, that doesn't seem to bother them."
Bibby sat in the dry tub with a pillow propped behind him to make him more comfortable. He wore regular clothing, and the snakes were not defanged and still contained their venom, he said. Workers placed the snakes in one at a time and removed them one at a time.
The clear bathtub was specially made several years ago for Bibby by the Guinness folks for a televised segment. He's used the tub for subsequent attempts at the record for sitting in a tub with snakes.
"I have set several world records in that bathtub," Bibby said.
The record was Bibby's latest grab at glory. Last year he set a Guinness-certified record by holding 10 rattlesnakes by their tails in his mouth at once. He said he plans to break that record Tuesday by squeezing in an 11th.
The Texas Snake Man also said he holds non-sanctioned records for climbing into a sleeping bag head first with 20 rattlesnakes and going in feet first with 112. The latter record, Bibby said, is the answer to a question in the board game Trivial Pursuit.
Bibby also claims numerous movie, TV and theater credits, playing such roles as Hostage on Plane, Hillbilly, Liquor Store Owner and Irate Bar Patron.
The acting and the snakes are ways for Bibby to stay in the limelight, he said.
"I do it for the attention," Bibby said. "I like being on television. I signed autographs for 45 minutes today."
Dublin is about 120 miles southwest of Dallas and about 150 miles east of Sweetwater, site of the World's Largest Rattlesnake Roundup, an annual event that collects thousands of pounds worth of rattlesnakes.
When I was out in southern Utah around Moab and Canyonlands visiting archaeological sites for about a month (some really strange stuff out there), I'd hop out of my truck and hear the rattles in every direction like it was surround sound. I found a babe sunning himself on a rock and took a closer look and he just sat there coiled up rattling away like that picture. Then I realized one could be coming around the base of the rock so I looked down quick and backed away, hehe. If I was gonna stay in that area I'd have a bunch of king snakes as pets. 
Next time...
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