Rattlesnake Roundup

Yesterday, the Washington Post featured an article that seemed so absurd that I had to read it twice to affirm what I was reading.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/03/12/how-to-kill-thousands-of-rattlesnakes-in-just-four-days/

Straight out of tall-tales from the Wild West, the city of Sweetwater, Texas hosts a yearly "round-up" of rattlesnakes.  The snakes are caught and then thrown into the pit above that looks like an above ground swimming pool.  The festival includes a beauty pageant, a snake charming contest, food stands and more.  Snakes are milked for their venom, skinned, and then cleaned for food.  Does this seem as crazy to you as it does to me?  Are rattlesnakes really that big of a problem?  Is this like the Burmese Pythons of the Everglades?

Read the above article from the Washington Post.  What do you think?  Do you agree with me that this is inhumane to the snakes and a crazy tradition?  Respond in a scholarly paragraph.  Remember to use capital letters and punctuation.  This is a paragraph not a text message.



If you are curious....below is the actual link to the Sweetwater Jaycee's Rattlesnake Roundup Site:

http://www.rattlesnakeroundup.net/ 

Lovely Centrosomes

http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/centrosome-breakdown-halts-regeneration-of-heart-cells/81251599/

Last week after several days of notes, we made our way through the cell cycle.  During my lecture I talked about both centrioles and centrosomes.  For this week's blog post I would like you to read the article above about centrosomes.

In a scholarly paragraph, describe what you learned.  I know you learned this back in third grade, but just a quick refresher.  When writing a paragraph, start with an introductory sentence.  Then follow that up with three to four sentences with supporting details (I want real details that you read in the article.)  Finally, end your paragraph with a sentence that wraps it all up.  Can you provide an extra links to follow up this research?  Does the centrosome play a role in cancer?