Jackie Bibby: Texas Snakeman

Jackie Bibby is truly a fascinating man with many stories to tell. As a seasoned veteran snake handler of more than 30 years, Jackie has displayed some amazing feats during his lifetime. He holds 5 Guiness World records!

At the age of 18, Bibby had his first taste of handling snakes at a Rattlesnake Roundup in Brownwood, Texas. During his 20's he only handled snakes for a few months out of the year. However, in 1988, after some rehab for alcohol he decided to make a career out of handling rattlesnakes.  He now handles snakes for some event every weekend and having a blast!

Jackie's hobby has gained him much notoriety over the years. He regularly performs at Rattlesnake Round-ups in Texas and other states and has traveled to Europe several times a year for the past few years to perform there. He has also been featured on the reality show on the Animal Planet network titled the ‘Rattlesnake Republic’. The show explores the lives of several elite snake hunting teams from Texas. Just recently a friend of mine who happens to work on a team whose specialty is customizing Salesforce crm for both large and small businesses as well as other organizations saw repeats of ‘Rattlesnake Republic’ and was blown away. He tried to compare the teamwork that is necessary when creating well-developed, customized, and integrated cloud-computing applications that are easy to scale for a company's Salesforce CRM with the type of teamwork he saw on the show as these men hunted and captured rattlesnakes. FYI: CRM is the abbreviation for Customer Relationship Management. Companies and organizations need a CRM set up in order to organize, automate, and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support. Creating custom applications requires good communication and lots of smooth flowing teamwork to make sure everything works seamlessly and successfully. We all looked at him skeptically. Are you kidding? These guys are risking their lives trying to make a living hunting and capturing rattlesnakes. How can you compare the two? Well, there is a lot of pressure when creating customized applications for Salesforce, just as there is a lot of pressure capturing rattlesnakes. We weren't convinced. However his description of the episode involving Bibby and his team was engaging enough that we all decided to watch repeats of the ‘Rattlesnake Republic’. And it's true. Jackie Bibby is entertaining. I would love to see one of his live shows.

When asked why he got into rattlesnake handling, Jackie replies "I guess it was for the pure excitement. I started out in Brownwood, but the snake handler's real competition is in Taylor, Texas the first weekend in March each year where the National Rattlesnake Sacking Championship is held."

"I got involved with rattlesnake handling for the first time just out of high School. I traveled from my home town of Rising Star 25 miles to Brownwood where the sport of sacking was dreamed up by the Jaycees."

It’s been more than 40 years Bibby has been handling snakes.  Since 1969 when he first started handling rattlesnakes. He's been bitten eleven times, many of them serious enough to land him in the hospital. He was bitten on his leg above his boot by a huge, six-foot rattlesnake at a private show at a hotel in Addison, Texas. The bit was very serious and he was rushed immediately to a hospital. Three days later, they had to amputate his leg. His hands tell the story of many other strikes. Great, S-shaped scars are obvious along the inside of both forearms while a misshapen thumb on his left hand ends in a point the width of a pencil. Even though he has had a few brushes with death, he still considers himself extremely lucky to be able to continue doing what he loves.

Jackie has 2 sons, Michael and Matthew. Although they shown an interest in snake handling, just how involved they will choose to be, time will only tell.

Jackie Bibby also does some acting. He has credits for numerous made-for-TV movies, television appearances, and featured films. Take a look at his acting resume below and see if you have seen him on the big screen or TV.

 

SPECIAL SKILLS

World Champion Snake Handler
Student Pilot Sky Diver
Arm Wrestling-Central Texas Champion
Motorcyclist
Scuba Diver
Rodeo-Bull Riding – Bareback - Horseman
Skiing
Public Speaking
Military Experience
Hang Gliding
Drug Counselor
           

CONTACT INFORMATION

Jackie Bibby              
5130 Ben Day Murrin Road #720
Performing Arts Network
Fort Worth, Texas 76126    
254.485.2292
Height    5"11"          Weight 225 lbs.        
Shirt 18/XL.   Pants 38/33
e-mail: snakeman@airmail.net       
Home Phone: 254.485.2292

 

TYPICAL ANNUAL SNAKE EVENTS

Oglesby Round-up last weekend in February
Oglesby, Texas

Brownwood Round-up 3rd weekend of March
Brownwood, Texas

Big Spring Round-up 4th weekend in March
Big Spring, Texas

Taylor Round-up first weekend in April
(Also: National Rattlesnake Sacking Championship)
Taylor, Texas


Almorgordo New Mexico 3rd weekend in April

Freer Round-up Last Weekend in April
Freer, Texas
Game Hunters Outdoor Expo
Decatur Civic Center
July 29-30
Big Bucks and Bar 'B' Q
(Opening Day of Deer Season)
Bluffdale, Texas