Motorcycle stuntmen and daredevil jumps recall a bygone era of motorcycles. An event scheduled for this year’s edition of the Sturgis Rally adds an under-powered vintage motorcycle and rattlesnakes to promises a truly spectacular moment. Stuntman Doug Danger will jump 120 feet through the air across the Buffalo Chip amphitheater with up to 2,000 live rattlesnakes placed in a pit beneath his path prior to the stunt. Danger plans to jump the pit of rattlesnakes at the Sturgis Buffalo Chip on Thursday, August 10, 2017.
The rattlesnakes will be of the Prairie rattlers variety which are known as one of the world’s deadliest snakes. One bite of a rattlesnake can kill a healthy man in the matter of a few minutes. It is reported that anti-venom can cost as much as $50,000 per injection, and an affected person may require several in order to survive, but only if administered in time. The snakes will be secured in holding tanks in an area designed to ensure the safety of all spectators.
Making the attempt more difficult is the motorcycle being used for the jump. Danger will ride a 1972 Harley-Davidson XR750 which was neither engineered to leave the ground, nor was it manufactured to ensure a safe landing after doing so. But Danger has had a burning desire to jump this bike ever since seeing his hero, Evel Knievel, attempt both successful and not-so-successful stunts with the same bike.
Riders thinking about heading to Sturgis later this year can make sure they are an eyewitness to the rattlesnake-jumping event everyone will be talking about for some time by purchasing their passes now.
“Doug is a professional who’s completed some incredible jumps, but this one is truly over the top,” said Rod Woodruff, Sturgis Buffalo Chip President. “He’s either the most courageous man I’ve ever met, or he’s got a genuine lack of fear. While we are doing all we can to ensure the safety of everyone in the amphitheater, including Doug, the threat to his life is real. These poisonous vipers will kill him nearly instantly should he fail.”
