Rattlesnakes in a pit, Texas, United States, 2020. During the Jaycee’s Rattlesnake Round-Up in Sweetwater, Texas, children observe hundreds of western diamondback rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox) crowded into a pit, some of which suffocate to death. Started in 1958, the event is held annually at the Nolan County Coliseum in Newman Park. Snakes are captured from the wild, sold to the Round-Up, and kept in pits. After measuring, sexing, and extracting venom, the snakes are killed for their skin, meat, and organs

Photograph: Javier Aznar