The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1871-10-21
THE HOME OF THE REPTILES.
4 New Departure of Snakes-six thcu-
sand Five Hundred SlauS Uttered IN 3:
Fortnight.

a New Departure of snnl<es-sis thou
sand Five Hundred Slau TX Uttered IN :.
FortniSh
The following marvellous snake story
is from an Iowa paper, which guaran-
tees the truth of every word, and gives
the names of number of distinguish
ed public men of the State as addition
al vouchers. 1t appears that certain
MIR. Cummins owns gypsum quarry
near Fort Dodge, and employs force
of some twenty-five men III the stone
He has worked it only a year or two,
but ever since he opened every spring
and fall his men have suffered serious
Inconvenience and annoyance from the
myriads of snakes that have a den in
the crevices, and swarm in during the
fall and out in the spring. The quarry
has northern exposure, the kind that
is always chosen by snakes as a den,
for the season that 1t is not affected by
the premature thawing and freezing of
early spring, as q southern slope would
be
As soon as the weather gets settled
III the spring and the effects of the
April sun is felt, the serpents begin to
show Themselves and the battle begins.
From out of the creyices and the hooks
of the rocks the reptiles swarm, crawl
ing up the slope Of the bluff, basking
in the sun, OF Fastening away over the
prairie to their summer haunts. Now
comes the tug of war. The foreman of
the quarry is compelled to detail two
men to fight the hideous things, that
| the men may work, and one is kept
carrying away the dead in a wheelbar-
row aud burrying them, so that the
numberless fostering bodies will not
| breed disease And from all the sur
rounding country the snake hunters
throng to enjoy the sport of killing
snakes, and among them they go slash
ing and striking until the poisonous
| odor cOmpels them to beat a retreat.
Twenty five snakes in fifteen minutes is
a common haul.
The editor of the paper in question,
in company with a number of other
gentlemen, recently paid visit to the
quarry. The sun was just warming up
the northern slope when the party ar
rived and this is his description eff what
followed:
'From out of crevices the snakes
were crawling in all directions, and
'swash,' 'swnsh, went the huge clubs
Of the two men who were defending
their fellow workmen, and every blow
was the death of Il snake. Just at oul
feet crawled a deadly mocassin, while
to the right and left, spotted adders
and chasers sqIirmed and Kissed as
! they twined among the stones or es.
/ .o,..l thn hll1H I,Iroct1y- ~
Of us lay pile of dead serpents as
large as two bushel basket, while on
the face of the sloping bluff were prob
ably 500 reptiles who had escaped the
| clubs of the men, aid were Fastening
away to the prairie, their elevated heads
aud writhing bodies Transforming the
bluff into no mythical Georgian head.
! Just above us, on a ledge of rocks, was
| a huge adder and Mr.. Cummins pick
ing up piece of rock, heaved it upon
! him, pinning him to the ledge, but the
/ snake was game; some three feet OF
/ his body was free. and gathering him
self up would leap full at us with al
| his force, kissing and opening his Jaws
IN a way that made the blood run cold
and the next leap he made blow from
our cane sent his head spinning a score
Of feet, and the bleeding trunk dropped
to the earth beloS
The snakes are said to retire into
their den about 2 P. NJ every 1av, after
which all is quiet until the suns ravs
again reach the QUARRY, when the same
thing is repeated. Two hundred and
seventy-fiye snakes were killed that day,
the number for two weeks footing W
$500, while it is supposed that ten
times that number escaped. On the
iith of October the snakes commence
to return and enter their dens for win
ter, when the slaughter IS repeated
The ledge of the quarry is twenty two
feet IN height, and nearly perpendicu.
lar, and down that distance they crawl.
catching on crag, and, with twist OF
the tail, they disappear in the dark
crevices for their long sleep
Last fall the 14th day of October
came unnOticed by the men; they wei e
busy with their toll IN the rock below.
The foreman was half stopping, drill
ing a rock preparatory fora blast, when
suddenly across his neck dropped q
mOnstrous spotted adder hanging and
kissing, half his length on either side.
On looking up they saw fifty CT more
snakes pouring over the edge of the
cliff, and crawling down the ledge
Then it occurred to them that the 18th
day of October had come, and for the
next two weeks swatms of snakes kept
pouring III. This quarry, with its den
of snakes, is worthy of the attention of
of the curious and scientific. 1t has
doubtless for centuries been a resort of
serpents, for at the bottom of the ledge
OF gypsum, where it joins on the iron
ore, are found the petrified bodies of
snakes.