The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1860-02-22
SOME SNAKES.

R. A Glenn, Esq, of Brown county, Hi
nos furnishes the following to the Schuyler
Citizen:
When I arrived in Schuyler county, which
was in the year 1881, there were but few set
lers south of Crooked Creek, the whole ter
ritory now constituting the populous town
ships of Ripely and Cooperstown, in Brown
county, then containing only about ten or
twelve families. The attention of the settlers
had been drawn to the amazing number of
rattlesnakes abounding in the woods, and also
to the fact that at the commence ent of win
ter they congregated at certain localities
knoxn as ''snake deDs," where they passed the
winter in state of torpor. There were num-
ber of those snake dens in the immediate
neigbborhood of which am writing. One Of
the mostfamous being situated on Section Is,
N, W., near the "Indian Ford" on Crooked
Greek, and known as the "Rocky Branch
Snake Den," and another one about a mile
Southeast of Ripely, on Section 8. in same
township, and was called ''Logan's Greek
Snake Den." These dens were situated on
cliffs of rock, and were from their situation
almost impregnable to human force; I say
almost, for the sequel will show that they were
not quite [ think those dens were origin
ally discovered by the settlers observing the
| snakes entering them in great numbers in the
fall, and leaving them in the spring; and the
known, naturally suggested the purpose for
which they resorted in such numbers to those
cliffs and rocky fastnesses. 1t also suggested
partial remedy for the evil of their vast num-
bers, which it was thought, might be remedied
by breaking into their dens and destroying them
while in the sorpid state. 1t was resolved to
make an attempt of this sort, and day in the
middle of winter having been agreed upon and
due notice given, every man and boy in the
neighborhood able to work, armed with such
mining tools as the country afforded, consist
ing of a few mattocks, spades and crow-bars,
and the rest with wooden hand-spikes, assem-
bled at the "Rocky Den," and very delibe-
rately went to work mining for snakes. After
several hours of hard and persevering labor
the mining party succeeded in forcing an en-
trance to the rocky chambers where the rep
tiles lay, all twined together in hi;;cous mass,
but all in state of torpor in which they in
variably spend the winter season. Rattle
snakes, black snakes, and copperheads and every
variety of snakes, all mixed together, indis-
criminately, but by far the largest number
being rattlesnakes. OF course the party had
no difficulty in destroying all they could get
at, but as the entry was only, as it were, to
the ante room of the institution, and the main
hall was entirely inaccessible by any means
within reach of the party, by far the larger part
of this frightful community escaped destruc-
ton. However, something over five hundred
of the creatures were dragged from their winter
quarters and destroyed, most of them rattle
snakes, and many of them as much as six feet
long and as thick mans leg. They were
all thrown into one vast pile, and for many
years their bleaching bones sufficiently marked
the spot. A few days after similar attempt
was made at the other den referred to above.
with less success, but still resulting in the
destruction of two or three hundred of the
reptiles.
Another mode of destroying them adopted
by the settI rs was to watch their dens on the
first warm days of spring, when the snakes first
began to revive from their torpor, and seek
the enlivening rays of the sun, and kill them
as they emerged from their dens, which could
be easily and safely done, as at the time they
were incapable of escape or resistance. l have
spent hours in company with other young
men of the neiehborhood in sitting with
rifles at the entry of one of those snake dens,
shooting them as fast as they came out, which
would be about as fast as we could load and
fire. Many hundred snakes were destroyed in
this way, the boys counting it fine sport, and
after the country became more settled, many
were destroyed by hogs, who are the enemies
of the snake, and by their peculiar physiologi-
cal structure are protected from injury by the
reptile So scarce have the snakes Low be-
come in the immediate vicinity of those vast
dens that it is very seldom one is to be met
with but at the time of which | write, man
would hardly walk hundred yards in the
woods in the summer season without finding
one OF more.