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 We heard the stories about the cave and we were excited to check it out. The trip wasn’t that far. It was ten miles west of Fort Stockton. We couldn’t wait to reach the cave. We made sure we had the rattlesnake catcher pole and gloves. We also brought two large buckets to keep them safe for the trip home. We had to gain permission to cross the land that led to the cave. The rancher was real nice and told us to be real careful. Several people were bit this year already. We said we would and we went on our way. Fifteen minutes later and walking a quarter mile we reached the cave. It was big and went back pretty far. Outlaws use the cave as a hid out in the wild west times. It was also shelter for Indians on the move for a night camp. There are a lot of stories and history to this land and cave. The old oak tree at the bottom of the masa  was called a hanging tree and a few men were hung there when the Texas Rangers caught up with them hiding out in the cave. We slowly entered the cave. We dug the flashlight out as we went deeper in. The first thing we saw were the scorpions. They moved around slowly not wanting to be noticed. We saw spiders which made my skin crawl. We saw a couple rattlers but not the size we were there for. We walked back in deeper and even saw the bats. We went even further back and there coiled in a massive mess was the size of rattlers we came for. They were about 6-8 ft long and they didn’t seem to like us there. They shook their rattlers and warned us to leave. With pole in hand we went for the biggest. After a few touchy minutes we had him in the bucket. We then tried to get the other two we wanted. They went behind some big rocks and it took about an hour to catch them. We had several tight calls. One almost bit my partner. It came to close for comfort. We had to try and keep away from others that were hidden in the holes and rocks. After we had caught the ones we wanted, we headed back to the opening of the cave. I was hit by a small rattler hiding near the entrance. Thank goodness for the boots I had on. The boots took the bunt of the bite and it didn’t go into the skin. We loaded the truck up and took some photos. We took time to have lunch that we had packed and cold beer. Most people catch rattlers to kill or show them at rattlesnake fairs. We had something else planed for these rattlers. We enter a building Monday morning caring our buckets. We put the rattlesnakes in a glass enclosure. Pretty soon school buses filled the parking lot. The kids were there to see Texas spiders, scorpions and rattlesnakes. They were learning about each of these and the dangers. After the show was over the snakes and spiders and rattlers would be released. We never had any die on us and the children learned all about them. Not bad for a days work in Texas.