Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1885-09-30
rocco. 1t makes a mighty purity
leather; but it s too thin for old Josh's

clumsily, and rolled over twice before
regaining it's feet. 1t seemed para
| lyzed, and at it's next Jump covered
| barely two feet OF ground. Josh held
| up warning finger and stood still.
Thefrog had not taken two more Of it's
awkward jumps before notified
brown snake slipped out of the ravine
and came sliding after it in hot pur-
suit, with it's triangular head clearing
the tops of the sun-burned grass. 1t
caught thefrog in the act of leaping by
q single foot. With a vigorous effort
the quadruped might have broken
away; but it seemed benumbed with
terror, and made no motion while 1T
was being slowly drawn into the
snakes mouth almost as impercept-
| IDLY as the hour hand of clock moves
round the dial. There was no prelim-
mary crushing of bones or smearlng
Of glutinous saliva, as is reported to
be the case with larger serpents, but
| the single leg was slowly absorbed I'M
| til the body began to 60 the same
way, with the other hind leg awk-
wardly bent forward.
"That's q moccasin," said Josh;
''we can't waste no more time on
him."
The snake was apparently powerless
to move, and without troubling to pin
it to the grass, Josh slashed off it's
head, cutting away the foot of the half
swallowed frog, and added one more
capture to his game bag.
A sluggish stream of water crawled
through the bed of the ravine, damned
in places by fiat slabs of blue lime
stone, making ''the best snake crib in
Kentucky. About two furlongs below
is the pond. That's where | keep my
snappers, and where the water snakes
go when they want a swim. My whole
farm amt more than two acres big,
and it is such land as nobody else
could make a picayune on. SO seven
year ago | up and leased her for TWEEN
ty-fve years for a dollar a year, and
from the minute that | got her began
to coax the snake to breed here. [
kinder skirmish around for young
ones and for eggs, and planted 'em
here in the ravine. Water snakes and
snappers got down at the Licking by
the dozen, and whenever | could get
my grip on frog brought him home
and turned him loose in my snake
pasture. 1t was hard work for a year
or two; but now all old Josh has got
to do is to 60 sneaking about once a
week and swapping now and then, and
snooze all the rest of the time up in
the shanty, while his neighbours is
breaking their backs at hoeing corn
and worming terbaccer. That's what
comes, sonny, Of having brains. Now
and then the neighbors get kinder
cranky when my stock wander around
on their farms, and then they make q
raid on my place. But the last time
they come around one of them pizened
his hand with some pizen ivy, down
by the pond, and swOre he was bit by
a moccasin. His hand swelled up till
he didn't recognize it; but it wasn't
one of my snakes done the dam
age. There amt no snake in
this country but the RATHER
that can't bite me all day for two bits
the bite, and rattlers is mighty blame
scarse out of mountains. Now, then,
you want to see fun. jest come along
with me down in the gully. It's crawl
ing with water snakes and copper
heads, and | kin catch sack full in
an hour. What, you'd ruther be .ex-
cused? l thought you wanted to see
the fun. Well, if you're afraid, 60
down to the pond till l get my work
done here. will follow you in about
an hour and catch a few snappers."
The snappers were ranged in long
line, summing themselves on a log rising
out Of the muddy water of the pond,
and when Josh put in his appearance
about an hour later the noise made
by his hearty voice and heavy boots
startled them so that they slipped like
so many fat stones into the water.
''That settles your snappers for to-
day."
"Does it, sonny? Iguess not. They
couldn't a done nothing to suit me
better. That log was planted in that
place by me. There is four big hogs
heads planted in the water underneath
it, and when the snappers drop, as
they always do when scared, they go
kerplump into hogshead. All got
to do is Jest to crawl out on the log,
like this, to scoop around in the hogs
head with this yer scoop, and when /
feel the hard back Of a snapper, scoop
him out jest like this"
He suited the action to the word,
and sent a big fat backed turtle fly
ing through the air to the bank Of the
pond, where it lay perdu until taken
up by the willy Josh.
The result of the mornings work
was eight turtles, averaging about
seven pounds each, and the canvas
bag entirely filled with the headless
bodies of snakes of varying colors and
sizes, the largest being a black snake 5
feet inches from the tip of it's tail to
the point where the head had been cut
| away.
"That big one will make me half a
pint of oil and bring in at least three
bits for his skim said Josh, as he
tossed a carcass-from which had been
stripped a beautifully marked brown
skin-into a three-legged pot which
was simmering over tie fire in his cabin.
"Snake oil sells for from four bits to a
dollar the pint, according to jest how
bad the customer wants it, and as
Gale 'late-what? What is snake oil
!