The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-06-16

NJ Ndsble w lnuy. IuTce years hSOi Oapt
Neil of New Bedford, one Of Swift'i
live-oak superintendents, met a monster
near Mosquito Inlet, going out with tht
tide. The snake espied Neils boat, anC
made desperate effort to board her
The Captain beat it off with the oars, bu
the fight lasted two or three minutes
The serpent, at last disabled, drifted away
with the current, and was finally swallow
ed by a shark.
The larger rattlen are said to follow
herds Of cattle. Cow boys say that they
smell the milk dropping from the udders
Of the cows, and take up the the trail, witt
a view to milking them. This is don'
while the cows are lying on the grount
chewing their euds. When the serpent
takes the teat in its mouth, the COW stops
chewing, and becomes as still as death
Thus she remains until the scaly thief i
satisfied. She seems to know that thl
least motion would be fatal. One snake
has been known to milk two COWS success
sively
In the fall, when palmetto berries art
ripe, the rattler crawls to the top of the
| full-booted tree, and hides beneath its dark
green fans The berries attract the car
dinal grosbeaks, bullfnches, mocking birds
and paroquets, and they fall under the in
fernal magnetism of the snake.
The attlesnake when trodden on does
not invariably bite person. Bethune, al
old Indian river mail carrier, while deel
hunting last summer, stepped square on 1
rattler. He felt il yield and move under
his feet, and then heard its ominous hum
ming. He jumped nearly ten feet, and
turned as white as a sheet, but he say,
that the snake made no effort to bite him
A more remarkable story is told con
cerning the wife Of Judge Connor. She
is deaf and this intensifes a natura
dread Of rattle snakes, as she cannot heal
the notes of warning. Some time age
her husband and a neighbor were doctor
ing sick colt. She was standing in the
path, holding some camphor and bottle
Of liniment She felt something cold and
sealy coiling around her leg. Drawing
aside her dress and looking down, she saw
a rattlesnake gazing steadily in her face,
slipping out its red tongue, and waving its
head to and fro as high as her hand
The blood rolled away from her heart
She screamed, and jumped aside so spas.
medically that the snake lost its hold and
was left on the ground. 1t is possible
that the serpent was trying to fasinate her
but her deafness barred out its low musical
sound. As the Judge and his neighbor
ran up the path, she stood trembling with
terror, on the point of faint,
"Shes bit r said the neighbor in low
tone.
"He didn't bite me, she retorted, with,
out, however, hearing what he had said,
"She's bit the neighbor repeated, but
she was so skeert she didn't feel it"
"Are you sure he didn't bite you
Mary p asked the Judge.
No, he didn't bite me she replied" l
know he didn't"
And she was right. She pleaded fol
the life of the snake because it had spared
her, but the Judge, to use his own ex-
preston, mOpped hell out of it.
The enemies of the rattlesnake include
the hog, the deer, and the eagle. The
hog thrusts his fat chops into the snakes
face, meekly receives its bite, seizes the
reptile by the neck, places its hoofs on it:
body, and tears it asunder. No blood is
drawn, the poison is harmless in the fat
and the porker gets fair meal, A drove
Of hogs will clear the widest country OF
rattlesnakes. When buck sees a rattler
he springs upon it like lightning, bringing
his feet together upon its head and body,
thus cutting it to pieces; for the hoofs Of
Floridian deer are as hard aud sharp as
a razor. An eagle kills the snake while
it is summing itself The bird descends
with the velocity of an arrow, striking the
reptile with such force as to sever the
! vertebrD.
But the dcadliest foe of the rattler is
the common black snake. He is public
benefactor, and ought to be protected by
the State Legislature, even If he does
pick up n chicken or two occasionally.
He grows very long, and unlike his north
ern compeer, never assails human being,
The rattler fears and shuns him; and
well he may, for the black snake is as
agile and quick as the handspring Of a
watch, and as full of fight as bulldog.
Meeting his antagonist, he attacks with
out delay. After eoiling and sounding an
alarm, the rattler keenly watches its as
sailant. At first the black snake slowly
glides around its spiral enemy, as though
studying its weak points. He frequently
Kisses and increases his speed with each
cycle, ever keeping an eye on the rattler.
The latter twists its head with every rev.
olution Of its assailant. Swifter sweeps
the black snake around the circle. At
the full bent Of his speed the rattler grows
dizzy. In twinkling it is caught by the
throat, and the coils of the two snakes are
intermingled. The contest is decided by
main strength. As they writhe in the
grass the superior prowess of the black
snake is manifest. The rattler Is slowly
strangled. Sometimes its body is swallow
ed, but this docs not always follow. The
coach whip, long, clean-cut snake, fire.
quently assists the black snake, and in
stances are given in which dozen coach
whips and black snakes joined forces and
killed a small regiment Of rattlers.
Vultures and buzzards, with all their
appetite for carrion, viii never touch any
thing bitten by rattlesnake; but when
his snakeship himself is killed, they de.
YOUR him with the greatest relish.