Texas rattlesnake rancher arrested for selling snake vodka

SANTO (AP) - A rattlesnake rancher who calls himself Bayou Bob found a new way to make money: Stick a rattler inside a bottle of vodka and market the concoction as an "ancient Asian elixir."

But Bayou Bob Popplewell's bright idea appears to have landed him on the wrong side of the law. That's because he has no liquor license.

Popplewell surrendered to authorities Monday and spent about 10 minutes in jail. That's after the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission obtained arrest warrants on misdemeanor charges of selling alcohol without a license and possessing alcohol with intent to sell.

If convicted, he faces up to a year in jail and $1,000 in fines.

Popplewell says he'll fight the charges. He says his intent isn't to sell an alcoholic beverage but a healing tonic. He says he has customers of Asian descent who believe the concoction has medicinal properties.

Popplewell has raised rattlesnakes and turtles at Bayou Bob's Brazos River Rattlesnake Ranch for more than two decades in Santo, which is 60 miles west of Fort Worth.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)